I offer you an apology for the time it took me to finish this chapter,
unfortunatelly I had too much work to do.

We still have a good way to go together and I'd like to hear your opinion
since an author lives thanks to the comments of his readers.
Yours
Elnauhual


The order of the Mortal Knights.

By Elnauhual

Fan fiction, inspired by "Oh My Goddess" by Kosuke Fujishima.

Chapter XXIX

A light in the desert

Lind was floating in an absolute nothingness, she had been separated from her physical body along with her senses and now she was now a pure consciousness separated from matter, unable to see, feel or touch. It was an isolation so absolute that it could lead to madness to a feeble mind. In vain she tried to move and feel arms and legs that no longer exists. However, she knew that there was still a tie with her physical body and it was a bond that was important to keep open, that's what the other Valkyrie were doing. Belldandy's mind had been reinforced as part of the change to become Kamisama, and in order overcome that mighty barrier the Valkyrie were using all their power to keep open a small crack. If it would broke, her conscience would be separated from her body and lost forever. This would leave a mind with all its memories, but without consciousness, .

Even with that risk she did not hesitate to move forward, she stopped trying to feel anything with a nonexistent body and began to focus and feel directly with her mind. She needed to find a contact point to Belldandy´s mind. She felt a distant and distorted echo of her own thoughts. Belldandy´s mind had perceived her and was reacting. They were too full of noise but she could feel in the response, a deep hostility toward her presence. The rejection grew and she began to move toward it, as if she were swimming against a stream of thoughts. It was difficult but she fought against that current using all her will to fight, and thus gradually she proceeded deeper into Belldandy´s mind. As she advanced toward the source of those thoughts, the dark yielded as a ghostly light began to surround her and her body began to form, but this was not her real body but an illusion created from Belldandy's memories, after all in this place Belldandy´s mind and memories was the only reality possible.

As her new body materialized in this place she began to be able to see and feel her surroundings. She looked down at herself and could not help a slight gasp. She floated naked in the middle of a cloudy nothingness. With curiosity she checked her new body, she knew it was and it was not her body. She meditated a moment on this apparent enigma until she realized what was happening. This body had been formed from Belldandy´s image of her, and for her she was not one of the most powerful Valkyrie, nor was the commander of the elite squad. For her insignia or rank meant little. To Belldandy she was a goddess and woman not valued by her titles, but only for what she was. Curiously she examined her body, it was slightly younger, smoother, was more ... Feminine? Lind took the luxury of a merry laugh at seeing how Belldandy looked at her. Unfortunately in this incarnation she had no power and would not be able to fight whatever was invading the goddess´s mind. She had to go deeper into the goddess´s memories to recover her full form.

Finally she felt she stopped floating and her feet gently touched a hard surface. At first she only saw an infinite plain, which gradually began to fill with "things". Those things should be Belldandy´s thoughts and memories, and she hoped that her body would start to take form from Belldandy´s more recent memories, yet nothing happened.

She looked around puzzled, she was already into Belldandy´s mind and should be seeing the flood of memories, sensations and feelings that make a mind, but everything was hazy around her, those barely distinguishable elements that should be her memories. Sticky mists surrounded and clouded them.

Lind approached a group of objects, but the fog did not back down, instead it seemed as if it wanted to cover and devour her. Lind then muttered a spell, she was not sure if it would work, but maybe an old fashioned verbal spell could invoke some magic here. To her relieve it worked and once completed, she used it to petrify the fog. The fog near her seemed to become old and worn rock. With a blow of her fist she attempted breaking it.

She screamed in pain at the impact, she had not realized her current body was too soft. The petrified fog did not yield and yet she felt as if her hand bones had been broken, still a few cracks appeared, so ignoring the pain Lind struck again. Some petrified fragments of mist began to fall and behind them bright memories emerged illuminating the place.

She heard a moan, as if the freed memories were hurting someone and then there was a tremor that shocked everything around her. Suddenly her battle-axe appeared in her hand!. Apparently this part of Belldandy´s memory was freed. Then she understood.

Belldandy's memories were her most powerful weapon to combat this alien consciousness. So it´s way to weaken her had been to block and hide her memory. Now she had to release it so Belldandy could regain her strength.

She looked around at the vast landscape that seemed to go to the infinity that was Belldandy´s mind. She felt tiny but that would not intimidate her, so she smiled and grabbed her ax and with determination began to attack the mist. The mist tried to engulf her, but she attacked it. It was a battle fiercer than anything she had fought before since her body was soft and weak, but her efforts gave fruits, slowly the place started to fill with light and as more memories were freed, her uniform, her goddess marks and finally her Valkyrie powers began to return.


Protected within its shelter at the top of the hill, the man took a sip of water and continued his watch. Although the full midday sun was shining in the semi-desert site, the shelter allowed him enough protection, he just needed patience and that was something he had plenty. His name was Giorgio Vaglia, and had begun his career as a photographer for wildlife documentaries, but was now he was using that experience in order to observe the strangest animals of all: "human beings".

His patience and experience to pass unnoticed had paid off in the past and this would be no exception.

A few hours ago, an old jeep had brought a prisoner- she was a young, small and thin girl, which they dealt with a brutal way as if trying to intimidate her. Giorgio had felt powerless against what he saw, but he knew he could not do anything except record and let the world know what was happening. There was nothing else to do except to observe and wait. Some hour after, when the sun began to touch the horizon, he sensed unusual movement in the small town so he prepared to record.

From the building that housed the old school a group of men erupted. They dragged two women; one seemed to be the girl they had brought before. Giorgio quickly focused his powerful tele-photo lens and began recording the details. He swallowed hard when he confirmed it was the girl they had brought prisoner. He had seen prisoners taken out suddenly at the brink of the night before; usually it was the prelude to an execution.

He tried to take a good image of her face. It showed evidence of being beaten, her clothes were torn and there were bruises throughout her body. Still, she walked upright and proud. The other woman appeared to be from the village and seemed to be so terrified that she was unable to move, so she was dragged from one place to another. The group of men forced them to move to the vehicles. The man that appeared to be the leader gave orders and the vehicles jumped into full speed. They were taken to an open area near a rocky promontory, a few kilometers from the village. Some men left the vehicles, but the leader stayed with the girl. Giorgio clenched his teeth when suddenly the girl was knocked out of the vehicle by a brutal blow. Apparently she had refused to do something. Then the man took a gun and put it on the head of the other woman. The girl got up slowly, looked at the man and finally nodded helplessly. But her subsequent actions do not seem to make sense.

Two men got her into the jeep and took her almost a kilometer away into the dry plain, away from the promontory; meanwhile the men took the other vehicles behind the rock as if they were taking shelter. The vehicle with the girl stopped in a clearing and under the supervision of men, she descended and from a wooden box she took something that seemed to be small. At that distance it was impossible for Giorgio to see what it was, but he judged it as not larger than a matchbox. Carefully placing it on a rock she get back to the vehicle and the group returned with her to get behind the promontory. After a brief discussion with the men, she peered over the rock to see the object she had left behind, then extended her noticed as if she were trying to hid what she was doing from the other men, but it was almost impossible see what it was, darkness had begun to invade the place, then something like a ray of light came out of her hand toward the small object she had left behind.

And suddenly the night became day. Giorgio shouted at being dazzled by this sudden dawn, luckily he was watching the scene through the camera LCD viewfinder otherwise he would have been blinded. The light continued a few seconds and began to fade. Soon after, the shock wave of a powerful explosion arrived and almost tore out the roof of his hideout. Giorgio cursed, he tried to record the scene but realized the CCD of his camera had been burned out, so he could not see anything. As the shock wave faded, he quickly sought another of his cameras, but he had to stand up to search it faster. Giorgio then look at the sky and screamed in terror. The landscape was dominated by something he had never expected to get to see up so close. It was the ominous mushroom cloud that had been part of humanity's nightmares for half a century.


Keiichi heard the alarm from the coffee maker and went to the kitchen, where he was assaulted by the strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee. That scent seemed completely out of place, as he was used to Belldandy´s delicate tea blends; it felt like an invasion but he could not fail to recognize that there was something exciting in the aroma, after some hesitation he took out some cooking appliances and proceeded to prepare a Western-style lunch. Fortunately Shugahara had given him some basic cooking lessons at a level that he could understand and he was good at following exact instructions, but was not sure that Belldandy would approve seeing cooking as an engineering problem.

At the end he stopped to appreciate his culinary work and smiled satisfied, then emptied the fresh coffee into a thermos jar which helped contain the aromatic scent that threatened to invade the temple, for a moment Keiichi had felt distressed when the subtle aromas that remind him of Belldandy's presence seemed to disappear, but gradually they began to return and he relaxed. Then he remembered that Belldandy always respected the rules of hospitality, so that was the least he could do for his visitor. While preparing a tray with the breakfast, he began to think on his plans for the day.

So far everything had been easier than he had expected. Galileo had researched into the computer files from the "Ceramic Society of Japan "and located a small industrial plant of ceramic industrial products near Chiba that wore the ostentatious name: "Nikkato Corp". They were having financial problems. Competition with Korean products was about to make them close and they had practically jumped with joy at the chance to make a new ceramic product for CERN, even if they had no idea what it was for.

With Galileo´s help he had been able to analyze their production line and with minimal alterations, he had pointed to them to the necessary modifications. Keiichi could not deny that he had enjoyed the process of modifying and optimizing their processes. Galileo had allowed him to do simulations of the process before finding the optimal combination and now the plant manager, who initially had made obvious his contempt at that junior engineer, now was all flattery to that "brilliant young engineer" who was about to save its plant.

Keiichi smiled, he could get used to that. Being praised by a senior engineer, especially in Japan, was quite an experience!. Thanks to that, if all went well, that afternoon they could do the first trial runs and perhaps he could deliver the goods before the time promised to Lind. Then his smile faded and he froze for a moment, he had remembered that he could not communicate with Lind or Belldandy, Galileo had been searching in vain, and it was as if she had disappeared along with Belldandy. He asked aloud:

- Galileo, did you find something?

A gentle deep voice answered him; the sound came out from the cell phone that Dr Shugahara had given him for staying in contact. Galileo had learned to use all the communication equipment from earth and now seemed to move without restriction between them. Although Keiichi had discovered that with some extra effort he could communicate mentally with the new consciousness thanks to the "software" that it had installed on him, he felt more comfortable with more traditional methods of communication.

- Sorry Keiichi-san. - Said the voice- Although now I have full access to Heaven's communication systems, I was unable to locate them. Skuld is worried because she also does not know anything about them, she is also trying to locate them but since Belldandy is now Kamisama, information on her whereabouts is strongly restricted.

Keiichi closed his fists helplessly. He had hoped that after Galileo had gained conscious, communication would have been easier, but the problems did not seem to end and he began to fear the worst.

- Have you been able to locate Urd?

-I located her in Hild´s palace, the communication channels are open, but there is no answer, I only got a personal message left for Shugahara from Urd-san, but no direct contact, apparently there is a new insanity outbreak and their priority is to counter it. I find it particularly worrisome that I also lost communication with the sages who were working together with Dr Shugahara-san and the people from Chiba to find a cure. There had been a constant flow of communication between them and the Chiba University. Now I'm trying to access their files, they were very optimistic about achieving something soon. According to information they sent to me, is exactly the same kind of attack as the one that attacked heaven. If they achieve a cure for demons, is likely it will also be applied to gods.

Keiichi was shaken at the news. Urd and Belldandy were out of touch even though both were now in positions of great power and influence that did not bode well. He could not help expressing his concern aloud.

- What else can we do? I feel useless.

- Keiichi-san! - the voice said calmly -My suggestion is to go ahead with the bracelets manufacture, even if they find a cure, it will not prevent infection. Many depend on you Keiichi-san.

Keiichi nodded. He knew it, but it was comforting to hear it from somebody else. He had already finished preparing the tray when he heard voices. It was Professor Srivapati and Somasindu. They would go with him to Nikkato Corp´s plant. To have a senior, a respected professor from a big medical university from abroad, along him had made easier to make him accepted by the employees, and along Somasindu they were now very popular along then, specially the old staff. Somasindu had an uncanny ability at finding medical problem and solutions. Keiichi sighted. With the prospect of doing something he forgot his doubts. So far he had always been useless to protect Belldandy and now he still had trouble realizing that his knowledge could eventually be useful. He was going to put all his will in this task. Now he picked up the food tray to deliver it to his guest, the day would be long.


A burly palace guard walked down a long, dark hallway. Despite being in the deepest parts of the palace, the powerful magic of its builders had made with a spacious place surrounded with stone walls overloaded with ornaments, fake architectural motifs and ancient runes crudely carved like most places in this world.

However for an inhabitant of this world, those decorations said something else. They were very old themes and motifs. This place should be one of the oldest places from Hell. But the guard was not paying attention to any of that, instead he focused his attention on his prisoner. With brutality he was forcing an old demon to walk. The prisoner had torn clothes and dark bruises on his skin. The guard brutally beat him every time he stopped.

After a long journey, where they were ignored but passing guards, they went near a guard that was guarding an elaborate portal. The guard smiled cruelly at the state of the prisoner, without saying anything he approached the prisoner and gave him a blow that crashed him against the wall. The first guard grunted in disgust. - Do not kill him; I need him to cross to the next level.

He only got a laugh as answer, but the guard stepped aside to let him pass. With difficulty the prisoner stood up and glared at the two guards.

- He still wants to fight, but that would not last long. - Said the first guard- When we finish with it I can leave him to you.

The guard at the door grunted with satisfaction at the thought and showed him the way to go.

Guard and prisoner moved down to another long hallway wrapped in darkness to finally arrive to an imposing overly decorated door. In front of it four guards fought each other without getting any damage. Apparently they wanted to see who was the strongest and did not care about the havoc they cause. Large blocks of stone had been detached from the walls as result of their power, yet stopped their fight at seeing the newcomer.

- What are you doing with a prisoner? They are all traitors and must die.

- I need him to go through that door. You have not even managed to weaken it; instead you are wasting your time fighting amongst yourselves.

- Wasting time? - Growled the largest of the guards who are you to say it? I'll show you what it is to lose something, maybe an arm or a leg. - Without warning he launched an attack against the newcomer. The other guards took a placed behind him to see the outcome of the forthcoming fight.

Suddenly the prisoner left his submissive attitude and quickly moved behind two demons with a speed that could only come from the advanced use of magic; he put the palm of his hands against the demons back and shouted a powerful spell. The two demons froze, and slowly crumbled unconscious to the ground

Meanwhile, the demon that had brought him prisoner, prepared to receive his attacker, he barely seemed to move but he deftly dodged and before the attacker regained equilibrium he threw a powerful blow to base of the neck, their most vulnerable point, leaving him senseless the attacker fell to the floor with surprised look.

The remaining guard growled fiercely and jumped to catch the prisoner, but again the old demon moved with unusual agility and simply touched his attacker fist repeating his previous spell and the fierce demon fell to the ground.

His "captor" looked at the old demon in surprise, but soon his surprise became a grin:

I thought that only my little princess Urd was able to defeat an elite guard so easily, I really did not expect an...

- An old demon like me to beat them? - The old demon laughed with a tone that had an air of mischief - It's just an old spell that sometimes I have to use with difficult patients, nothing important. High-level demons never are good patients so we must compel them to receive their treatments.

- I am not sure if I would like to be one of your patients, besides I do not think lady Hild would be pleased to know you have that ability, she would be very upset to found her guards are defeated so easily. - Then he looked around and his smile vanished from his face to be replaced by an expression of concern - Now you must heal your wounds, I tried not to cause you too much damage, but it was necessary to be convincing. Fortunately hereafter we no longer need to pretend.

The old demon growled contemptuously.

- It's nothing that a little healing magic would not fix; some pain is acceptable in the name of Hild-Sama. Also I cannot blame you for the treatment the other guards gave me. - The demon smiled, held out his hands and began an advanced healing magic spell to restore his hurt body. For the senior healer from Hild's palace that was trivial.

The guard commented after he finished.

- Now we must get the others out of their seals, we have some spare time we can use to treat the wounded.

He took some ornamental metal disks from one of his pockets and put them in the floor. The healer cast a new spell and from each disk a figure emerged. They were Urd and the rest of her strange squad of demons. Urd screamed in disgust.

- I hate being sealed!, even knowing that it will be for only a short time, it does not help much to make it tolerable.

From the look of her companions, it was obviously they felt the same and while they recovered, Urd took that moment to study her squad: An elite guard, an old healer, an expert in ancient chants and a couple of demons bureaucrats. She could not help laughing at the sight. One of the most protected places of Hild´s palace was being assaulted by this irregular group. This promised to be a very interesting experience, but her smile froze when she saw the state of the two young bureaucrats, they were inexperienced demons who had tried to get into a combat. She addressed them angrily.

- Ekur, Shulgi!

The young demons groaned plaintively, one of them had an extensive burn on one arm and appeared to be about to lose consciousness; still he struggled to overcome it and replied:

- Urd-Sama, please excuse our stupidity, we are only assistant librarians and besides... - The young man seemed to be astonished that Urd, no less than Hild´s daughter could remember his name, for it was normal for his superiors to forget it.

- Ekur, that is not the problem, now listen to me! , I know who you are and so I do not expect you to fight. You two have a valuable purpose to fulfill and should not risk your lives. - Urd's eyes flashed with fire and the demons were silent in fear at the wrath that reflected - So pay attention, and the same for all of you.- she looked around- I do not want heroes, the next one who tries to risk his life trying to protect me, will have the honor to be killed by myself. - Urd slowly turned around and everyone lowered his gaze unable to meet her furious eyes - Got it!

- B...B... Bu... But milady Urd! - Ekur dared to say- Hild-Sama told us...

- No matter what my mother told you, it´s all right if you are willing to die, but you will not do it while I'm in charge of this group. No one should risk his live in exchange for mine. - Urd slightly raised her voice, yet somehow it was enough that even the old and proud demon swallowed hard at her tone- I will not tolerate it! - Then Urd added slowly- That's an order!.

Everyone nodded in fear and disbelief at the Urd´s words, but knowing that she valued their lives only reinforced their intentions to sacrifice for her. Urd closed her eyes for a moment, under those circumstances she could recall easily a distant battlefield on earth, almost a thousand years ago. She still recalled the stench of blood, the mutilated bodies by the combat, empty eyes staring at the sky from people she had known and who had died because of her. She had promised herself that no one else would die because of her, but she knew that not even Bragg could understand her motives. The latter was smiling at the intensity of Urd´s words, he was proud that his princess was proving to be a capable leader.

Urd continued giving orders:

-Elder, - She changed her tone to show some respect to the old demon - be sure to heal them well, we have little time to recover. - Then she looked at the elegant demon who accompanied them.

- Wotan, it's time to use your talents. Apparently those - she pointed to the fallen demons- tried to force their way and surely they activated the door´s defenses. That means that the door will not accept direct orders for several hours and we cannot wait. This door and its magic is very old, you're the expert, and you said that you helped to build it.

Wotan smiled mischievously; the opportunity to demonstrate his talents was something that rarely occurred. Then, to everyone's surprise, he walked, not to the door but to the wall beside it. Then began an old song, a song that did not appear to contain any magic.

-Gengr Hildr vefa ok Hjörþrimul, Sanngríðr, Svipul, sverðum tognum:

Urd raised an eyebrow, that was an old song dedicated to Hild. Her mother had insisted that she memorized it: "Hild began to spin her plans, and Hjörþrimul, Svipul Sanngríðr would emerge with swords." She had memorize it easily because the ridiculous image of her mother knitting something, only much later she would learn the kind of things her mother weaved were not something to laugh at. She was lost in her thoughts for a moment when, to her surprise, she realized Wotan was smiling at her and with comic movement of his hands he was telling her to continue. Urd closed her eyes to remember that song, then she sang with her beautiful voice.

-skarpt mun gnesta, skjöldr mun bresta, mun hjalmgagarr í hlíf koma.

So, Hild had used that song as a password for this door! Urd herself had used a snippet of that song for her own magic medallions: "The spear will be broken, the shield will break and the sword will pierce the armor." Now she understood and that explained her mother's laughter when she had sent her to this place without saying the password. Urd stood still a moment to think about the latter. What other hidden information had Hild given to her? She meditated, and recalled the names from the song: Hjörþrimul, Sanngríðr, and Svipul? Urd smiled at finding the answer, those should be the names of the leaders of backup army. She had to locate them first.

Urd was distracted from her thoughts when the wall began to form a giant door, unlike most doors in Hell it was not very elaborate but extremely large and she could sense it emanated a very powerful defensive magic. Wotan smiling explained, pointing to the shattered door aside.

-That was a false door, behind it there is only more rock. It was my idea when they were designing this place, the important thing is that only a person from the current reigning house can open it- Then Wotan bowed respectfully to Urd and said - Urd-Sama, please just open it.

Urd could not help laughing, that pompous demon had hinted before that they needed some kind of special magic to open the door, but all they need was an old song and a common command.

Urd raised her hand in a simple gesture, the same she used to open any door from the palace, it could not be simpler.

The door gave a brief flash directed toward her; apparently it was checking her identity and immediately opened. Behind it, they could see thousands of crystalline forms, each one containing a body. They were the reserve guard.

- Ekur, Shulgi! - She called the two assistants - you know the filling system used in the palace, you must first locate and identify Hjörþrimul, Sanngríðr and Svipul. They are the three leaders of the guard. Take the healer to them so he can apply the antidote for the loyalty spell. Then break their suspension and wake them up, give them the orders that you have already memorized. Then they will help you to wake up the rest using the same procedure.

The two young demons nodded and prepared to enter the gigantic room but Urd stopped them with a gesture.

- Wait, you have forgotten that you have no authority to give orders to the reserve squadron leaders. - With a mischievous smile, she stepped forward and placed the palms of her hands on the astonished demons. Urd then did something she had sworn never to do. Invoking her authority as Hild's daughter and future Daimakaicho. Using a coded spell she had heard from her mother she modified their rank. Upon completion the marks on the faces of the young demons had changed. - I have appointed you as supreme commanders of the army of Hell. Only Hild, Marler and I are above you, so please be careful on the orders you give to the guards.

The young demon touched their face stunned, while Urd laughed at them, but she was interrupted by a rapid series of small explosions that could be heard behind them.

Urd turned around and just in time to see a group of one hundred guards materialize and they were looking at her with wild eyes.

- They have discovered us earlier than planned- said Urd- Hurry! Go on and do your duty! After you finished, find a safe access terminal and report to Hild.

- But Urd-Sama, you have to come with...

-I can't do it- she pointed to the guards that were materializing. - If they enter there all is lost, I have to stay and delay them so you have time, now all depend on you!, Now run!

After some hesitation, the two young demons and the healer ran through the door, Urd then turned to look at her other companions.

- Wotan, Bragg, enter and then I will seal the door.

Wotan answered back with a haughty look.

- Urd-Sama. I am sorry to inform you that not one of us will obey that order. If we survive you may apply to us any punishment you may considered appropriate. - Bragg smiled approving his words - I may be old, but this is a good opportunity to try some ancient spells that I've always been curious to try.

Urd not tried to protest, she knew that alone she would not survive for long, at least with the help of those two rebels they could gain a little more time. Meanwhile more guards were appearing, but they did not try to attack, it seemed they expected more of them to arrive to overrun her by sheer numbers. Urd bowed at her rebel demons and with a gesture locked the gigantic door. Then she turned slowly to face the enemy, and said.

- I am the strongest, I will draw their attention so they attack me first. Wotan, I have no doubt about your knowledge, but I know you will need time to cast any advance spell. I will give you as much time as I can and Bragg would will block anything that goes behind my shield.

Wotan gave her a skeptic look.

- Urd-Sama, How will you attract their attacks? I do not think they would accept an invitation...

Urd´s face was illuminated with a wild grin that reminded them of her mother, then raised her arm and used her magic to change her outfit. Her mixed goddess and demon dress was replaced by a simple yet elegant combat uniform that shocked Wotan as he recognized it and instinctively adopted a defensive position. Urd was wearing the uniform of one of the most formidable enemies of Hell. Urd smirked at his reaction

- I do not think any of them would refuse the opportunity to attack a Valkyrie.


Dr Shugahara and Sentaro-kun were in the middle of a busy European airport. The child looked embarrassed and astonished at the seemly random activity and at the sight of so many people from different nationalities. The number of questions per minute he was asking was about to exceed even Shugahara's capacity, yet he answered them willingly. He liked the healthy curiosity of the child. Suddenly, halfway through a question his face darkened and he stayed silent. Sentaro asked him worried.

- Is something wrong?

- I am not sure, I felt a deep anguish. - Said Shugahara, taking his hand to his chest - It's like a premonition, something about Urd. I never believed before in that stuff, but after all I have lived now I think this may be real.

Without another word, he took his cell phone and sent a short text message. BA few seconds later they heard

A deep and gentle voice coming out of his cell.

- Shugahara - San, how can I serve you?

- Can you connect me with Urd? I have a feeling that something is wrong.

- I'm sorry, but it is impossible, Hild's palace is under attack. The palace bodyguard has been infected.

Shugahara bit his lip worriedly. - Do you have any information on her?

- I have retrieved a message she left for you at the system with instructions that it was just for you to hear. It seemed she was unable to send it. If you put on your headphones, it will play it for you.

Under Sentaro´s puzzled look, Shugahara quickly looked for the cell headphone to hear the message. The message was not too long and after a few minutes, a slightly flushed Shugahara slowly took off the headphones. Sentaro began a barrage of questions but Shugahara took some time to react, and then faced the children.

- Sorry, it's just that I wish so much to be with Urd. She is about to do something very dangerous to save her world. - He sighed deeply moved, then reached under his coat and touched Urd´s medallion. He felt some comfort as if it were a link with her. Whether it was his imagination, or was really magic, at the touch he could feel her presence and relaxed. - Seems all I can do now is trust her, but I cannot help fretting, if only I could be with her. But we have a plan to follow.

- But what else did she tell you?

- Ah ha! She told me some plans for us when she returns, but I think you'll have to wait several years before I can tell you about them. - The boy looked puzzled but did not dare say more - now we have to take a flight, and I think it will be less comfortable than the previous one, it´s a much smaller plane.

Shugahara headed to a boarding gate, but could help but bore a beatific smile.


Lind moved advanced in the strange landscape and as she forced back the fog line, she felt her powers return, but she had lost the sense of time, and didn't know how many hours had passed, so she began to feel concern. She knew the Valkyrie should be at the limit of their strength and felt she was not progressing fast enough.

At the thought she gave a battle cry and with her ax struck fiercely against the fog, releasing another segment of Belldandy's memories, but in doing it she again heard a cry of pain. This time it was much clearer.

She stopped, maybe now she could find the source, she turned around and attacked another line of fog, she heard the scream and advance toward it. As she began to clear another section she found something that looked like a path, she stopped and listened with care, this time she heard there was also a soft moan, as if someone were under constant pain.

She focused her attack to clear the path, and noticed that this time the fog offered more resistance. Maybe it was a sign that she was on the right track and she redoubled her efforts. Again and again, she attacked the fog, but this time it seemed to refuse to back down but eventually did. The path was released and was transforming. Now instead of the gloomy place, her surroundings began to turn into a beautiful garden, but it was not the well planned gardens of heaven, it was more simple and elegant. Lind recognized it with a surprise; it was the garden from the Tarikihongan temple. Lind smiled, that made sense. For Belldandy the temple was her home, so her conscience should not be far away from it. She continued attacking the fog and as result she could see a familiar structure. It was the main hall of the temple. Lind stooped and clenched her fist, as a she felt a powerful and terrible pain emanating from the temple. Her heart anguished and without thinking she ran inside only to stop in horror.

In the middle of the enclosure she could see Belldandy's naked body. It was pierced in several places by sharp crystals of greenish sickly color, that nailed her to the floor so she was unable to move. From that broken body came the constant wail of pain. Then Lind saw the fog return as if it tried to regain its prey. She raised her ax and attacked, but immediately stopped.

By attacking the fog a new crystal formed and cruelly pierced Belldandy's body. The goddess cried out in pain.

Lind screamed horrified, she realized that she was the one who had been tormenting the goddess. Belldandy seemed to hear her voice and with utmost difficulty she slowly turned her face to see her. Lind shuddered at the sight of those clear blue eyes filled with tears of pain. But then Belldandy making an effort, smiled with hope in her eyes. She began gasping and tried to tear away to get free from the crystals. But they only dug deeper into her body.

Lind shouted - No, please, do not fight; you will only hurt yourself. I must find a way to free you harmlessly.

But Belldandy continued fighting ignoring the damage being caused to her, gasped and said- Help me to get free, you have gone so far, fear not to cause me more pain, the pain of having caused injury to others is much worse than the pain I'm feeling. Please release me!

Lind hesitated; the goddess to whom she had sworn eternal friendship was suffering so cruelly on her behalf, she wished to scream. After a few hesitating seconds, she raised her ax and prepared to concentrate all her power in the fog that threatened to return to engulf the goddess body.

This time she open herself to feel Belldandy´s pain and drew more strength from her despair. She screamed at the top of her lungs and savagely attacked the fog that seemed to writhe like a living thing, and continued even as she saw the goddess's body writhe as more crystals formed, digging deeply into her, threatening to tear out her defenseless body. Belldandy made inhuman efforts to endure her pain, but could not help but to cry out in agony, still yelling at Lind- Please, do not stop!

Lind's eyes filled with tears, tears that were a terrible in a warrior goddess and with redoubled fury at her torment friend she redoubles her efforts.

The fog began to solidify and come alive. As if trying to get reinforcements, a rush of fog from all around the place began to concentrate, and contract as an evil serpent, then it began to take form as the crystals that pierce Belldandy began to dissolve called by the new form. The fog slowly began to take human form.

The humanoid form began to convulse and emitted a piercing pain scream as it was unable to stand Lind´s fierce attack. It seemed as if Belldandy´s pain was being transferred to that being. It´s screams echoes along the place, since unlike Belldandy it was not trying to fight the pain.

Finally it was fully materialized; it stumbled and fell prostrate on the floor. Everything exploded into light. It was as if Belldandy´s mind has been suddenly and completely released in one stroke, all her luminous and powerful memories were again free.

Lind ran to help Belldandy; she seemed to have lost her conscious. Lind examined her body. She still had the terrible injuries caused by the sharp crystals, her flesh was torn, and could feel her irregular breathing. Suddenly Belldandy´s body convulsed uncontrollably with the pain form her injuries.

Lind tightly embrace her body trying to control it, she could feel her pain and in desperation invoked what little restorative magic she knew. Gradually Belldandy's breathing began to regularize and the goddess opened her eyes. However she still trembled with pain, but with a terrible effort managed to say.

- Thanks Lind, you have released me. My conscience is again free.

Lind cried and said:

- But those wounds!, I do not know how to cure them!.

Belldandy smiled sweetly and said:

-Some of these wounds may never heal completely but they will not kill me, you have done something heroic, I'll appreciate it for a lifetime. - And then Belldandy started singing, it was a slow and sad song, full of magic, it help her to decrease her pain. Then she stopped and looked at Lind's pained face and made an effort to straighten her shattered body. Lind helped her and to her surprise Belldandy caressed her face and touched her tears. A tear stayed on her hand looking as a precious glowing jewell and said to Lind.

- Few gods know this, but there is only a magic powerful enough to heal a wounded soul: the tears of a goddess, especially from a goddess as strong as you, my dear friend Lind, I thank you for this.

Belldandy began a slow and beautiful melody and the tear on her hand began to shine and the brightness spread to cover the goddess body. Soon Lind joined her singing. Gradually Belldandy's body began to heal, but not completely, as Belldandy said, some scars would never disappear.

Lind could not tell how long they took, she only cared that Belldandy was recovering. Finally Belldandy materialized her clothing and emblems that identified her as the leader of this world. Her face recovered her peaceful look, but a shade of pain still remained on her blue eyes. Somehow that pain gave her a more royal presence. She was again Kamisama.

Belldandy now had the strength to get up, recovering her full dignity and Lind could not help but try to make a respectful bow to her superior but Belldandy stopped her from doing it. Her sweet smile was back and was more powerful than any command.

Lind finally breathed deeply as she felt relieved, but still there was something very important to do.

- We must find out what attacked you! I knew it was not the same madness that attacked other gods. - Then she pointed to the figure lying sprawled on the floor- apparently that being is the culprit and it seems to be a god.

Belldandy looked astonished at the body lying face down near the entrance of the temple as if it were trying to escape. It looked as the body of a young man and wore the rich garments of the members of the high council of the gods. - A board member? - Asked Lind How could he have entered into your mind?

Lind unceremoniously turned the body to see his face. It was a strangely familiar face. In his unconsciousness state he looked serene and exuded a certain dignity that seemed to correspond to his clothes, even if someone so young would never be part of the council. Lind examined him without understanding what it meant. By his marks this was a high-ranking god, or at least the avatar of one. What purpose could have made him to do all this?

Then Lind felt as Belldandy moved away and turned to see her. Belldandy's face was full of terror and she covered her mouth, as if trying not to scream. It took her a great effort to control herself. Lind looked at her in amazement, despite her suffering Belldandy always had retained control, but now it seemed like he was about to lose it. She looked back at the unknown god and then to Belldandy's face. She began to suspect something, so finally asked:

- Do you recognize him?

With a trembling voice Belldandy said in shock:

- It´s impossible! They always told me he was dead!

Belldandy began to breathe slowly trying to use a self control technique to keep calm. Slowly she returned to Lind´s side, watching the stranger's face. Then overcoming her fear, she touched the unconscious man and closed her eyes while trying to reach into his mind. Finally looked at Lind and with an awed voice slowly said - it´s my father!.


End of chapter XXIX