-58-
A sharp inhale was drawn as the syringe plunged into the owner's flesh. With bated breath, several pairs of eyes watched as the thumb pressed down on the plunger. The contents were injected, the needle removed, and those gathered signed in relief.
The old woman who'd administrated the shot stepped away from the angel, a contemplative scowl on her face. Spear Mint, the angel in question, rubbed her upper arm, an identical scowl on her face as she glared at the empty syringe in distaste. The woman, an ancient creature with a back bent with time, ignored the angel in favor of disposing of the hypodermic needle, creeping towards a metal bin with a biohazard label etched in its center. "That's the last of them." The crone said, pressing down on a lever at the bin's bottom with a foot and tossing the needle inside as the lid popped open.
Skuld, her own tiny angel hovering closely over her shoulder, sighed. "Thank you, Granny." The young woman stood leaning against a table, it's occupant, World of Elegance, resting in a sleep so deep Skuld wondered if it wasn't a coma. "I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't shown up."
The old woman grunted, her gaze drifting not to Skuld but to the other deity in the room, Nebo. The man sat passed out in a chair, his face drawn with pain or exhaustion as he leaned against the stretcher containing the beastly Luna Spirit. The Ssaratu's mass squirmed and writhed with a life of its own, where inky black tendrils trickled into a fine miasma and red, bulbous sacks pulsed to a beat all its own. "You were lucky." Her voice was harsh and raspy, filled with the cruel roughness of a chain smoker. "I was here by chance picking up supplies. Had I not sensed my little flying tł'iish, I would have been hauling ass the other direction with the rest of the Tics out there." The woman moved a hand towards the inside of her robes in a manner that spoke of habit, only to stop herself and let her hand drop back to her side. "Be better if that old fool in the corner was awake to thank me. Angels are his specialty, not mine."
"I know." Skuld sighed, "You just happened to gain a vested interest in angels for the sake of your previous acolyte." The young woman had lost count of the amount of times she'd heard that exact line from the old woman and earned a scowl in consequence.
"You're too much like your sister."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Skuld retorted.
The old woman's scowl deepened. "Don't be giving me any lip, Child." She snapped. "I've had millions of children and I whipped Urd into shape when she was half your age. Don't think I won't make you my next project."
"I'd rather we focus on everyone here recovering." Skuld replied. Her voice lacked any bite, carrying with it instead an undertone of despair which gave the old woman pause. The Norn scowled, scrunched up her face, and sucked in a long breath through her nose. She released it with a harsh breath. "We can't keep doing this to them." Her gaze wandered to the twins, who sat huddled together, pale and quiet, like a pair of orphaned puppies.
At some point, Spear Mint had developed a tremor which only stilled after the physical manifestation potion went into effect. Skuld, while no expert in the domain of medicine, had been around Urd long enough to recognize the subtle withdrawal symptoms. Cool Mint wasn't exhibiting them yet, however if one twin was displaying symptoms, it stood to follow that the other wouldn't be far behind. The young woman bit her lip. "This is hurting them." She muttered.
We heal when we're in our hosts. Nobel Scarlet whispered. We draw on our host's energy to maintain a physical shell. Without a host, the energy supply is cut off, and the shell begins to break down in an effort to sustain itself. The Twins and World of Elegance need to return to Lind and Urd.
The old woman echoed the tiny angel's words. "There's nothing for them to feed on as they are now." She approached Skuld, standing to look down at World of Elegance. The angel's breath was harsh and erratic, her long wings folded tight against her body, draping over her like a large, long blanket. The mutations which Skuld had discovered upon her retreat to Nebo's collapsed clinic had only grown more prominent now that the danger presented by Odin had passed. The Twins had dragged the large angel, Nebo, and the wounded Ssaratu to a portion of the clinic not demolished by Urd's Tendee rampage, barricading themselves inside with improvised weapons fashioned from whatever they could find. It was only Nobel Scarlet's assurance that Odin was nowhere to be seen that the door had opened enough to let Skuld in.
Odin had stayed behind following Tyr and Urd's teleportation spell. With the danger gone and the Daitenkaicho vanished, a fresh level of chaos had descended upon the wounded populace. The sudden absence of Tyr seemed more than some could take, yet Odin was quick to remind those around him that he was a god who thrived as a leader in an ocean of chaos. The man had taken charge swiftly and without challenge, directing those uninjured to begin search and rescue operations, while those Tics who remained able-bodied were directed towards medical treatment. If he'd noticed his youngest granddaughter slipping away towards Ground Zero, he kept it to himself and made no attempt to follow her.
A small blessing; Spear Mint and Cool Mint were on the edge of their own melt down at Skuld's appearance, and World of Elegance's mutating body had left the Norn cold: A line of hard, thick scales, almost like dragonhide, had erupted down the angel's back, their color an oily black which shone rainbows at the right angle. The feathers along the white wing had fallen out-no, Skuld thought, they'd melted-and in its place was a thin, white membrane. Now it seemed that the bone structure had changed as well, and Skuld was unnerved that she could count five thin, jointed bone structures fashioned more in line with the wing of a bat rather than the larger, hollow bones of a bird. There was even a wing claw now, tiny and bulbous, on the top of the wing.
The old woman, Urd's mentor from another life, had warned Skuld away from it upon her initial examination after the Norn had found her investigating the collapsed clinic outside. "It's venomous." She'd explained. "I recognize a hollow fang when I see it." A gnarled hand reached up and gently squeezed the base of the claw, and Skuld had recoiled at the liquid which beaded the tip. "If she thrashes, don't approach; she is sick and feverish and cannot control her venom, and if you are pricked I may not be able to form an antidote for you in time."
Now the angel was still.
The mentor, Na'ashjé'íí Asdzáá, more simply known as "Nana" by Urd, ran a gnarled brown hand through the angel's hair, unbothered by the mutations which plagued her. "She needs her other half." The words echoed Skuld's internal thoughts. Nana sent another scowl, one filled with concerns and worries, back to Nebo. "And he needs to get that...angel back inside himself." The woman was clearly unnerved by Luna Spirit's mangled appearance-had been since her initial arrival-yet her concern for the others had prevented any of that discomfort from settling on her back.
A knock came from the barricaded door, causing the two women to jump. The duo shared a look, and unnoticed by either of them, Spear Mint, trembling though she was, reached to grab a steel pole she'd picked up from somewhere. Skuld, frowning, approached the door, waving a hand back towards her companions as she called out, "Who is it?"
The woman received no response, and her frown deepening, she looked back at her companions. No one had moved, and after a moment's continued silence, another knock came from the door. This one was different, a sequence of raps which were slow in some areas, fast in others. Skuld's brow furrowed together in confusion, and once more she looked to the old woman and the twins. A similar blank stare aligned Nana's face, however the Twins appeared inquisitive.
Cool Mint, a bit stronger than her sibling, hopped off the counter she was sitting on, feathers sighing as she pattered towards Skuld. Curious, Skuld stepped back, and Cool Mint approached the door, barricaded by a toppled over cabinet and what was once a wheeled drawer. She rapped her knuckles against the door in a similar sequence, paused, then rapped another note out. The angel then paused, leaning across the barricade to press her ear against the door, blond brows scrunched in tight concentration.
More raps from the other side. Cool Mint jerked her head back, then turned back, looking not at Skuld but at Spear Mint. Spear Mint reluctantly placed the pole back to where it leaned against a wall, then gestured to Skuld and pointed towards the door.
"What do you want me to do?" Skuld asked, before jumping as a large grating noise rose from behind her. Cool Mint was already starting to disassemble the barricade, and reluctant to see the hostless angel injured, the Norn rushed to her assistance. Together, the two of them pulled off the drawer, and with some effort moved the toppled shelf to an angle that left the door unobstructed. Skuld eyed the angel. "Are you sure?" She asked.
Cool Mint nodded.
"All right..." With bated breath Skuld undid the simple lock on the door, then turned the handle and opened it a crack. What she saw made her heart skip a beat, and it took the young goddess a long, long time to realize she was not hallucinating.
Angels.
There had to be at least fifteen of them, clustered in the outside hallway as they crowded around the door. Angels with blue eyes, angels with brown hair, angels with fur or stripes or spots. Angels with flowers in their hair, vines around their waist, leaves around their chests. Angels with fire for hair, or ice, or water, or the earth itself. Angels which looked feminine. Angels which looked masculine. Angels so androgynous they could not be categorized by gender.
And then a voice in her head, from her own angel, her lone comfort amongst this silent and watchful audience. They've come to help. Nobel Scarlet whispered. They will not let the mother or the sisters die of negligence.
"They all came for..." Skuld trailed off, scanning the crowd of solemn faces before her. "...All of them? For, for World of Elegance and The Twins and Nebo's angel? Just-their hosts let them leave? Just like that?"
They left of their own desire. Nobel Scarlet replied. Their hosts are near enough to ease the strain on the link, but they are distracted with the damage done to the local area. The ones before us now were able to sneak away; our mother is singing.
"Mother is singing?" Skuld repeated.
Yet Nobel Scarlet did not clarify. Will you allow them in? She asked instead, They have energy to spare.
Wordlessly Skuld stepped back, unblocking the door's threshold and leaving the entryway open for the many guests before them. The angels entered single-file, holding with them a silent dignity and grace of such magnitude that even Nana, rough though she was and unfamiliar with the entities, stepped back to allow them space.
There were fifteen in all, ethereal and beautiful, and all but two filed through the door. The two who remained behind were a pair of large, muscled angels: one with a hide the texture of tilled soil, compressed and with little bits of green moss freckling his body, and one with a form that was stiff and hard, as if carved out of rock. They took their station outside the door, one on each side, and as The Rock aimed his gaze further down the ruins of the clinic, the Good Earth turned and looked back to Skuld. His smile was warm and gentle, though his appearance was daunting, and despite herself Skuld found herself placed at ease in his presence. "…Thank you." Skuld said, uncertain of what else to say, and further off-balanced when not only the Good Earth but The Rock turned to smile at her. The Good Earth leaned back to pat Skuld on the head as if she were a child (like Urd used to do, she remembered), and then the two angels turned the entire focus back down the hall, the smiles fading to a stone wall of concentration and hostility.
Skuld fought the urge to reach up and rub her head. Her heart clenched. Urd.
Hold it together. Nobel Scarlet whispered, and what her angel lacked in size she made up for in presence. Skuld saw a pair of wings enter her vision, followed by a pair of small, youthful arms wrap around her shoulders in a tight, almost desperate hug. We gotta be strong, right? Strong and brave, like World of Elegance and Holy Bell-like Urd and Belldandy, right?
Skuld reached a hand back to touch her angel, her hand reaching back and gently gripping the tiny angel's left shoulder in a show of camaraderie. Right. She thought, distrusting her voice. For their sake, and for the Twins. Nebo too.
The woman swallowed, then turned away to view the procession before her.
What became immediately apparent to Skuld was the fact that the room in which she and the angels inhabited was not intended to house twenty angels and three deities all at once. The angels stood side to side, some of the smaller ones forgoing standing and instead hovering uncomfortably above the heads of their brethren. Others moved to sit on cleared desks or drawers, adding a minimal amount of room that was negated with the addition of their larger wings. Overall, despite their best efforts, the room was crowded well above the point of 'uncomfortable', and Skuld had to fight her way to the front-jostled by wings and elbows and even something that she thought was a tail at one point, until she finally found herself beside Nana once more.
Nana, an elderly god who lived in a very remote desert on a very large rock that suffered very few visitors, looked ready to keel over and die. "Child," She whispered as Skuld came to stand beside her. "I don't know your game, but you best be explaining it before I go apeshit on your ass."
The others tell her to keep her shit together. Umm…'watch and see'…Also, 'Don't lose your shit.' Skuld sensed Noble Scarlet shrug. I think that last one was for you.
"Got it." Skuld muttered.
"What?" Nana demanded.
"Watch and see," Skuld replied, echoing her angel's words. And then, because she couldn't help herself, "keep your pants on Granny, you aren't wearing brown today."
The old crone's white brows rose with anger. "I'll whup you so hard-"
"Shh!" Skuld hushed her. "Look!" The woman pointed, her voice an excited whisper. Spear Mint and Cool Mint had been pressed to the front, squeezing past one angel after another until they stood side-by-side near the unconscious World of Elegance. Spear Mint had the look of a feral cat caught in a cage, her blue eyes darting from one angel to the next with a mistrust born of bad experiences, even as her twin stared on with wide, open, innocent red eyes (like Noble Scarlet, Skuld realized with a start. Red eyes like a demon).
Several of the angels squirmed around the duo, adjusting the two until they stood back-to-back besides Elegance, their wings, tucked as they were, creating the illusion that they were twins with a set of complete wings rather than the one individual wing each owned. One of the angels, a small, demur little female with a grace that would have made World of Elegance jealous, brought the twins' hands together in an embrace, cupping the two hands firmly with a pointed nod that Skuld interpreted as 'don't let go'.
From there, the angel then grabbed Spear Mint's free left hand and grabbed the unconscious World of Elegance's right hand. Guiding the two together, Spear Mint grabbed hold of Elegance, and again gripped the two hands tight. Spear Mint gave a curt nod to the angel, and the small female stepped back, melting into the gathered angels around them. Spear Mint glanced down at the unconscious angel at her side, and to Skuld it appeared almost as if the angel was worried, concerned for her fellow even as she looked away, reaffirming her grip first on Elegance, and then on Cool Mint, who squeezed Spear Mint's hand nervously. In contrast to Spear Mint, the younger angel looked up at Skuld, her eyes drifting from the Norn to what Skuld could only guess was Nobel Scarlet, perhaps taking comfort in the sight of the younger angel.
It will work. Skuld heard Nobel Scarlet whisper, her voice low as if hoping her host wouldn't overhear. It's gotta work. For everyone's sake.
On the other side of the table Elegance rested on, another angel-this one a slim male with delicate, feminine features, took the mutated angel's free hand, then grabbed another male's hand-this one a stocky, pale angel who looked albino. That angel in turn grabbed the hand of a female whose eyes were covered by cloth, who grabbed another male with a black feather in his wing, and so it continued. The angels linked hands around the deities, going all around the room until two angels-the last to link hands, shifted beside the great Ssaratu sometimes known as Moony, sometimes known as Luna Spirit, gently resting their hands on its body.
"I don't like this…" Nana muttered, her eyes darting left and right mistrustfully. She pressed into Skuld almost unconsciously, and Skuld could feel the tension in the tiny woman's body. The old goddess was trembling.
Tell her she can leave if she's scared. Nobel Scarlet had left Skuld to join the tight, nerve wracking coil of angels, her diminutive size an unknown advantage as she hovered easily over the shoulders of the angels who held her hands.
Shrugging, Skuld repeated her angel's thoughts to Nana.
"Fuck you." The old woman growled. "And leave one of my own behind? I may not like this, but I'm not about to leave the little Gaa-gii at'a' behind."
"Gagi…what?" Skuld stared at the elder deity in confusion. "…You mean World of Elegance?"
Nana grunted. "Too much a mouthful. Gaa-gii at'a' is easier."
Speak for yourself. Skuld thought. "What does it mean?"
"Crow Wing." Nana replied. "And don't you dare go repeating that to Gaa-gii at'a' or your sister, or there will be no hole deep enough that will hide you from the wrath of myself and my children.
Skuld, who'd heard stories from Urd of Nana's many, eight-legged children, paled and shuddered. "Not a word." She promised.
Before them, the angels directed their focus first on the angel to their left, then the angel to their right. Their focused shifted inwards then, and Skuld became aware of eyes on her back-eyes not so much looking at her as looking through her, as if in looking through her they might find their true subject of interest, and that in such a means Skuld and even Nana and Nebo were little more than obtrusive furniture. The woman felt her skin crawl, disliking the feeling, yet held her tongue as she too directed her gaze to the room's focus: that of three angels and one Ssaratu in dire need of care.
The room began to warm up with the presence of so many tangible bodies. With it came an indistinguishable hum, one so soft and so low that at first Skuld dismissed it as an auditory hallucination, then dismissed it as a hum of machinery when the sound grew more consistent. It wasn't until Nana started grumbling and rubbing her own ears that Skuld realized the sound was increasing, and it wasn't until she felt the hum within her bones that the Norn realized from where the sound originated.
Are they…singing? The sound was deep and consistent, without depth or pitch like the songs Skuld remembered from her childhood. While angels were always considered a private side of a deity, her mother's use of Elated Victory, the large, fierce angel that had seen war and bore the scars to prove it, had always been a liberal affair. Though memories of Skuld's early childhood were now dim with time, she still had fond memories of snowy white wings, a hard, muscular body, and eyes like blue gemstones that danced with wicked humor. Elated Victory had always acted as a secondary caregiver when Ansuz was called away due to politics, and for the toddler Skuld, always a source of joy and awe. Protection too, when necessary; Elated Victory's link with Ansuz had always been strong, and if ever Skuld-or Belldandy or even Urd-found themselves in error around the angel, Ansuz would be mere moments away from responding.
And Elated Victory would sing too. A melody that, despite the hardness and the scars and the darkness hidden within those gemstone eyes, had always been peaceful and tranquil; a sound capable of even calming a teenage Urd down when she grew too overwhelmed. It had always been a magical sound, clear and pristine like choir bells; a sound Skuld secretly had hoped to acquire with her own angel, if for nothing but the beauty of the voice, and which sounded so different, so…off-putting from what she heard now that it took Skuld a long moment to convince herself the deep, bone-rattling hum was coming from the angels around her.
It's almost like a cat's purr. She thought, like twenty cats, all in the same room, all purring as they cuddle up against each other.
And then her skin broke into goosebumps when the Choir began their song in earnest.
The hum rose in power, and Skuld could feel her teeth rattle as individual voices made themselves known to her ears. She identified Noble Scarlet instinctively, recognizing her angel's voice as easily as she would her own or any of her sisters, and tried and failed to identify Spear Mint's and Cool Mint's as well. As quickly as they rose, the voices became indistinguishable, melting together in a great and powerful choir of such depth, such power, such beauty that the Norn felt tears well up in her eyes. There was magic in those voices, in the song, magic so strange and so undefinable it defied explanation, yet which held such strength that it was almost overwhelming to hear.
The Norn glanced over at Nana, her eyes bleary, tears leaking down her cheeks, and saw the woman awe-struck, her mouth hanging open with an expression Skuld thought might match her own; one of sheer shock and wonder as she beheld the song.
The air seemed to pulse with the highest highs and lowest lows, and the room with its many equipment components seemed to tremble to the music around it, resonating to the vibrations produced by the song. Skuld could feel her legs tremble, her arms tremble in tune, felt a thrill of exhilaration matching the highs, and a deep, livid terror as the song hit its deepest lows. Her eyes, wide and freely leaking tears, strayed to The Twins, and saw that some of the color had returned to Spear Mint's cheeks, saw that Cool Mint stood a little stronger, a little taller, a little more confidently than before, and felt her heart surge with joy.
Her eyes then fell to World of Elegance, and Skuld felt her heart skip a beat as she found a pair of heterochrome eyes staring at her.
In that moment the world fell away from Skuld. The Norn's eyes met the angel's, and it was not World of Elegance that Skuld saw but Urd, injured but somehow alive, holding onto life with the same animistic vigor which so possessed demons when they sensed death's approach. The image frightened the Norn, and the woman broke into a cold sweat, her heart hammering in her chest. Unabated, the Norn stepped forward, only to be stopped as a clammy hand clamped down on her wrist.
"Don't you move." Nana breathed. A glance at the woman showed the elder's lips barely moved. "Let them finish."
Skuld's eyes fell back to World of Elegance, but the angel's eyes were once again closed, her expression a tight grimace of pain. Her hands squeezed the angels who held her in a vice-grip, and in the harmony came a note of discord as the male angel holding Elegance's hand rose in a note like pain before falling back into the choir. Spear Mint likewise grimaced, but held her octave without falter, instead readjusting her grip on World of Elegance and returning the squeeze with equal strength.
The song continued. World of Elegance began to squirm and writhe on the table, as if the song brought her pain, yet Spear Mint and the male who gripped her both held her tight.
A deafening gong resounded through the room then, and not just Skuld, but Nana and even the angels all started as the noise echoed throughout the room. World of Elegance fell still, her eyes wide and terrified, her head craning instead towards where Nebo rested with the Ssaratu. Mooney was beginning to stir now, the tendrils which made up her form writhing with renewed vigor as the angels continued their song. Another deafening gong resounded through the room, and the angels around the Luna Spirit shied away, leaning away from the entity as much as they could as a third gong rank forth.
Nana clamped her hands over her ears. Skuld didn't have the heart to tell her the sound was ringing from within their minds. Next to Mooney, Nebo groaned in distress, his face a grimace of pain that displayed the pain the Ssaratu felt. An arm moved, followed by a leg, and then Mooney picked herself up and howled.
Abruptly the song ended, the angels around Mooney retreating from the Ssaratu even as others broke the chain of angels, kneeling to cover their ears against the psychic scream, others falling over or taking to the air in a frenzy. Skuld saw World of Elegance fall off the table, where the male angel at her side dove to catch her, and saw Cool Mint clutch her head, her expression one of mindless terror.
Nobel Scarlet?! The Norn missed Spear Mint, fighting through the panicked choir towards the Ssaratu in favor of her own angel, and found the little being floating above her head, paralyzed with fear. Nobel Scarlet, come back to me! She cried, and with a leap grabbed her angel, one hand wrapping around the tiny being's foot as she pulled the angel from the air and into a tight, protective embrace. "I'm here, it's okay, I've got you." She said and knew her words were drowned out over the thundering howls of the Ssaratu. She could feel Noble Scarlet trembling in her arms, and on the verge of panic, tried to remember how to return her angel to the safety of her soul.
Yet her mind was a mess, and anything she had learned of angels was lost in the frantic need to simply protect the tiny entity. I've got you, hang on, focus on me, I won't let anything hurt you. She felt tiny hands dig into her shirt, felt the rising tide of fear and panic manifest through her link with Nobel Scarlet, and scrambled for a purchase of mental calm.
What would Urd do in this situation? What about Belldandy? Her mother? Pabba?
You need to be the anchor. A voice from the distant past came to her. You can't rely on her for reassurance-You need to be that reassurance. Be the voice of calm-even if you don't feel it. Be the voice of direction-even if you're lost. She'll follow in turn, because you are a light in the darkness, a guide where others are blind.
…Mara?
Yet the voice was already quiet, and Skuld was alone, surrounded by an ocean of angels with her own on the verge of despair. Ride it out. She thought, and felt a new level of determination fill her even as another mental howl rocked her. Ride it out. You've suffered worse-we've suffered worse, Nobel Scarlet. C'mon, lets ride it out together. Now wasn't the time to focus on the others. Not Nana. Not the Twins. Not even World of Elegance. You can't take care of anyone else if you can't care for yourself. Mara whispered in her mind. Secure yourself, then manage the damage of everything else. Be selfish like a demon.
More of that damned Wilder's philosophy.
You can't deny it worked though. This, the voice of reason, whispered in her ear, and with a grimace, Skuld curled into a ball around her angel, protecting her Other Half, her Other Soul, with the entirety of her body and feeling Nobel Scarlet's heaving, terrified breaths against her chest. We'll ride it out together, then we'll check on the others, okay? She told the angel. Just stay with me. Focus on me. Ignore everything else but my voice. I've got you. It can't last forever.
And indeed it didn't. Though it felt like it did. A limb struck her back. Something hit her side. She felt a weight collapse on top of her and pictured an angel collapsing from where it had been hovering. Wings buffeted her back. Yet curled up as she was, it was bearable, if frightening, and more importantly, her angel was safe.
Gradually, painfully, the howling began to die down into a low, mournful keen. Even that slowly grew bearable, changing from a painful weight on the mind to a slow, throbbing headache until even that died away, leaving in its wake blessed silence. Skuld raised her head. There was a painful pounding behind her left eye that the woman associated with a migraine, and her entire body felt sore, beaten, and exhausted, as if she'd sprinted a hundred miles at the speed of sound rather than merely holding her angel against a psychic attack. The entire room had become still and quiet; around her, angels sat curled in tight groups, three, sometimes four together, their wings up and covering the backs of their siblings as if to ward off any more mental blows. A look to her left and right showed that two angels had come to shelter with her-the two large males who'd been guarding the door-and three other nearby angels had come to shelter around Nana.
The Norn looked around, barely noticing her angel popping up between her arms and taking a wide gasp of air. Nebo was awake, supported by the two angels who'd originally been touching Mooney. He leaned into one of them, sweat dripping from his face as he gently touched the Luna Spirit's body with his right hand. The man was nursing a bloody nose, but seemed to be blind to his own ailments over his concern for his 'angel'. Spear Mint knelt beside Mooney, her expression worried, holding one of the Ssaratu's hands with both of her own. Skuld didn't know what was happening, but whatever Nebo and Spear Mint were doing seemed to be calming the Ssaratu down.
The woman looked towards the table Elegance had been on, finding the angel in question leaned up against the male who had caught her in her fall. The two sat surrounded by five other concerned angels-three males and two females, and Skuld was alarmed by the heavy grimace of pain that still marred the angel's face.
Trembling, almost unaware of the tiny angel clinging to her neck, Skuld picked herself up and stumbled towards the group, not so much kneeling beside World of Elegance as tumbling into a controlled fall that left her at the angel's side. With no prompting on Skuld's behalf, Nobel Scarlet threw herself at World of Elegance, who winced before wrapping an arm around the tiny angel. She sent a painfully exhausted look to Skuld, and without warning reached forward and grabbed the Norn by the arm, pulling the goddess into a tight embrace.
For a moment Skuld's mind went blank, and the woman once more was flung into the past, where in another time, another place, another life, another person had held just as tight, just as desperate. Urd. Oh Yggdrasil, even the smell was the same. Urd, please be safe. Her eyes were burning still-had she ever stopped crying? From the song, from the howls, from the hug? Yggdrasil Urd, please don't leave me again. I can't-I can't lose you a second time. She felt something wrap around her and looked up, barely aware of the fleshy white wing blanketed around her. World of Elegance graced her with a crooked smile (Urd's crooked smile, Skuld thought), before leaning forward, resting her brow against Skuld's. A distorted buzz like bad white noise filled her mind as pressure was placed on her sigil; an action that was so…so Urd that Skuld couldn't help but smile past her tears.
World of Elegance is alive. She thought. I need to have faith that Urd is alive too, wherever she is.
XXX
"I don't want to fight." Urd stepped back, her wings ruffling in alarm as the man before her snarled. "I didn't come here to fight."
"You are a warrior." The bear-man accused, "You are Aesir. That is all you know."
"I am no warrior." She edged further back and felt a knot of unease twist into a ball of dread. "I'm just trying to find my friend. I'm trying to get to the Green Trail.
"So you intrude on this sacred ground?" The stranger accused, "You claim you are no warrior yet here you stand, defiant against death." The bear-man spat. "Your lies mean nothing to me."
Urd took another step back. "I told you, I don't want to fight." She edged further away from the stranger. "What will it take to convince you?"
Yet the stranger's response was only a snarl, and as he charged her Urd was off, abandoning the battle in its infancy. She took to the air, using her wings to propel her up and away from her assailant. Below her the man bellowed at her, yet the woman spared him not a single glance.
"Coward!" The man screamed.
"Better a cowardly Aesir than a violent Falkin." She retorted, and left him, using the great wings on her back to propel her higher. "I'm sick of fighting everything that lays eyes on me. You, those hounds, that monster, Yggdrasil, even my own family! I am done fighting! I am done hurting! Leave me alone!"
"As if you had any choice in the matter!" The bear man roared, "You invade a holy place and expect no consequences? You won't escape so easily!" He pulled a long bola from his belt, spun it, and hurled it at Urd with all his might. The bola sang as it tore through the air, and it was more luck than skill that Urd avoided it. She heard it scream in passing; a high, clear whistle that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on edge.
Beneath her, the stranger snarled, and Urd eyed him, watching him with wary eyes for any signs that he might throw something else at her. Instead he began chasing after her, and in the mist the deity found it difficult to keep track of him; the man's outfit blended in too well with his surroundings. It was not long until he had vanished from her sight entirely, yet Urd was not fooled. Through some magic that alluded her, the bear-man was keeping pace with her, of that she was certain. Though she could not see him nor hear him, the woman kept her eyes on the ground, waiting to maneuver at the slightest indication of a new attack.
It proved to be her downfall. Her attention so focused on the man beneath her, she never noticed the bola's descent until it was too late. It struck her right wing hard, and Urd screamed as the twine entangled within the feathers. The momentum of the impact was strong, and the woman found herself spinning in the sky, unable to recover with her one free wing. She plummeted like a brick, one wing fluttering uselessly as she was dragged back to the ground.
The impact hurt in a way that could not be described, paralyzing her even as the deity fought to stand. When at last she regained the strength to move, Urd found the bear-man before her, spear in hand as he made ready to skewer her.
Yet something made him pause. The man's lips pulled up in a sneer, and he looked over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed, and his mouth opened as if to say something just as something large and black collided with him. Urd jumped, then recoiled as both forms vanished into the mist. Strange snarls and angry screams met her ears, and not wasting any time the deity picked herself up and ran the opposite direction.
Her wings made her slow, however; large as they were and and tangled with the bola, they dragged her down like a pair of cumbersome weights. Though her effort at escape was valiant, it was wasted. Within seconds the man was upon her once more and with a terrible bellow Urd was knocked to the ground. Something heavy settled on her back, spreading her wings flat on the ground without care of the bola tangled within them. Twine dug into muscle, and the woman cried out in pain. A hand dug into her scalp and pulled her head up, where a face entered the left side of her peripheral vision. It looked human only in the vaguest meaning of the word. The distinct signs of a muzzle were present and growing stronger, and as the lips pulled back in a snarl, the teeth displayed were those of a bear.
"This is the one sent by Aga Sedna?" The bear-like creature snarled. "A weak and cowardly Aesir absent of instinct?" The disgust in his voice made Urd cringe. "Pathetic." Nails dug into her skin, causing her to cry out. "Useless wretch, vanish." A cold so great it burned flooded across her scalp, and her voice rose into a howl. Her heart pulsed behind her eyes as an overwhelming pain encompassed her. Red lines began to dance and divide her vision, pulsing and thickening to the rapid thrum behind her eyes, while the edges of her vision began to disintegrate into a white-hot light.
Just for a moment, she thought she heard a yell, and then her hearing was overwhelmed by a pulsing white noise that drowned out the world around her. Sensation began to fade as a numbing sensation overwhelmed her body, and she could feel hairline fractures tearing at all aspects of her body. I'm being ripped apart! She thought, and even that felt somehow fractured and incomplete. Despair, real and all-encompassing, consumed her, yet her body was unresponsive to her pleas. The world around her wavered, grew hazy, and came with it an overwhelming sensation of-
Something was moving beneath the tears.
And then the sensation vanished. The man atop her left her person with an enraged bellow, and as Urd attempted to recuperate the sound of the man's screams grew far and distant.
In her state of vulnerability, her senses far from recovered from whatever insanity she'd just experienced, it'd almost sounded to Urd that the man had screamed 'bitch' in passing.
Confused and intimidated, Urd looked back over her shoulder. A form, the same dark figment which had interrupted the bear-man's attack, was taking shape as it approached her. It was dark; that much remained obvious. Yet as it drew closer, more details became apparent: a humanoid shape on two legs. Something like wings sprouting from the back. A female form. Dark, blue-black skin. Orange eyes.
The being paused fifteen feet from Urd, and its smile was one of both awe and excitement. "You're Aesir, aren't you?" The angel spoke surprisingly good Asgardian, though there was an undertone of an accent that spoke of distant lands. At Urd's nod, the smile grew larger. "An angel with a white wing. Will wonders never cease?"
"Who are you?" Urd croaked.
"Macha, I think." The being replied. "Yes…Macha feels right." The angel's eyes were curious. "How did another Aesir find the misfortune of wandering into this nightmare?"
"I could ask you the same." Said Urd. "You're Aesir?"
A roar, loud, angry, and distinctly inhuman, rose from in front of them. Macha made a face. Urd flinched. "Get behind me." The Aesir advised. "Iansi's being an ass again."
"The bear?" Urd asked.
"The bear." Macha agreed.
In front of them, an enormous beast arose from the mist, its form a specter composed of the mists around them. It towered over them with baleful white eyes, and the mist formed a snarling snout that released another angry bellow. Urd felt the thrum of its voice echo deep in her bones as she moved to the Aesir's side, and was surprised when the warrior angled herself to better shield the Norn.
"Iansi!" The woman bellowed, and despite the mist it projected loud and clear. "You're being an ass!"
"A what?!" Urd looked at the black-winged Aesir in horrified shock, then up at the miasma-beast. Wonderful. If her chances at escape before were slim, now they were non-existent with the Aesir's damning words. "Are you insane?!"
Macha ignored her. "We spoke about this!" She shouted. In front of her, the mist-bear's mouth yawned open as if to swallow them. "You aren't going to solve anything getting all angry-like! You want to be stuck here alone for the next millennia until some new idiot gets lost in your den?" The form of the bear began to lose its shape in the mist. "Then you need to calm down!" The form fell upon them, and out of reflex Urd raised her arms to protect herself. A cool, moist breeze whipped across her body, empty of pain or hostility.
As if consumed by the rising sun, the mist which enveloped them vanished, leaving in its wake the bear Urd had first witnessed. Standing on two legs, its shadow stretched far and wide, enfolding the two women before it. It roared at them with eyes that glittered with rage, and the fury of its voice was almost too much for Urd to withstand. It took all her willpower to prohibit the desire to flee, and it left her trembling, her nerves spent, as the great bear fell back onto all fours.
It stood before her, shoulders rising and falling as it huffed, teeth bared in a snarl of intimate aggression.
Its gaze never left Urd.
Macha released a breath, and the tension in her shoulders and along the width of her wings vanished. "Thank Yggdrasil." She muttered, and Urd wasn't sure she was supposed to hear what followed, "...getting harder every time..."
The words sent a shiver down Urd's spine, and Macha looked over her shoulder back at the woman with an easy smile Urd was hard-pressed to return. "Give him a moment and he'll be fine." She assured. "You okay? You don't look too well."
"I'm fine." Urd was far from fine. Not beneath the cruel gaze of the bear.
As if sensing her distress, the beast's lips pulled back in a quivering snarl. An ominous rumble rose from the depths of its chest. Urd flinched and stepped back, and the strange Aesir once more turned to the bear. "Hey." Her tone was warning. "Stop. I know she doesn't belong here. Don't forget, I don't belong here either."
Don't speak to me as though I were some simple beast. The voice of the bear ran through Urd's mind, a bubbling cauldron which seemed seconds from boiling over. You forget yourself. This is no place for Aesir. This is no place for qallunaat such as you are. The bear huffed, It is only because I cannot destroy you that I tolerate you, Tulugak. The beast reared back onto its hind legs and then fell forward with such force that Urd felt the ground beneath her feet vibrate. Do not assume that same leisure is passed to the one behind you.
"Listen," Urd began, "like I tried to say before, I don't want to be here either. I don't even know why I'm here-I was supposed to go to the Green Trail in order to find my friend. Not-not this...place."
"Looks like your closer on my level then you might expect." Macha muttered.
"What do you mean?" Urd asked.
The Aesir means that she is also an intruder here. The bear's mental voice drowned out any words that would have been Macha's reply. She does not belong as you do not belong. Neither of you belong here!
"And you can bet that we would both be happy to leave here as soon as a door popped up labeled, 'Green Trail Entrance', but I don't see that happening any time soon." Macha retorted. "I know your unhappy about us being here, but like I've told you in the past, the fastest way of getting me, and now..." She looked back at Urd, "Who are you again?"
"Urd." The woman responded.
"Thanks." Macha said, muttering beneath her breath, "Sounds familiar..." The Aesir turned back to the bear. "Like I was saying, the fastest way of getting rid of Urd and me is to cooperate with us so that all of us can work towards removing us Aesir from your territory so that we're no longer intruding in your realm. But again, like I've been telling you, that's going to require your assistance to accomplish. We need to work together."
Urd sent the woman a perturbed and worried look. "So you're trying to reach the Green Trail too?"
"Yes." The woman diverted her gazes. "I...don't know what I'm doing here. I belong with my unit. Not with a bear."
"Your unit? Like-you're a Valkyrie?" Urd looked at the woman in surprise. "How did you get here?"
"I don't know." Macha replied. "I di-" The woman stopped herself, sucked in a breath, and tried again. "I...woke up here. How did you get here?"
Urd rubbed her right wrist, fingers tracing the archaic designs carved into the flesh. "I...fell." She said. "I thought I was going to the Green Trail. An...an old woman sent me."
"You fell." Macha eyed her critically, "Did the old woman push you?"
"No!"
"Were you trying to kill yourself?"
"Damn it, no!" Urd snarled, "I was just-just falling, okay? And I met an old woman-"
My mother. The bear interrupted, then gave an audible chuff as Urd fell silent. It seemed to be calming following Macha's interruption. She sent you here after The Runt.
"The Runt?" Macha asked.
Since its first attack on Urd, some of the aggression faded from the bear's jaw. The teeth vanished behind heavy black lips as the spirit sighed. The Runt. He repeated. My sister.
"Lind...no, Tanarak?" Urd asked.
You do not have permission to use that name! The bear bellowed with both its mind and its voice, causing Macha's blacks wings to bristle instinctively.
Urd felt her own hair rise in alarm at the undue hostility, and then steeled herself, confronting it with like-minded aggression which surprised her. "I have permission!" She snapped, and watched the bear's eyes alight with fury. "I have Tanarak's permission herself! She shared with me her true name as I did with her, upon the battlefield that brought her to this would-be 'Green Trail' in the first place!" The woman felt heat rise in her cheeks, filled with an indignant anger which had gone unmolested until that point. The Norn took a step forward without thinking, her lips peeling back in a snarl the mirrored the aggression in the beast before her.
She was stopped by Macha, who raised an arm to block her path. "Don't you start too." The woman snapped. "Fighting will get us nowhere, especially where the Green Trail is involved."
Get out of the way Aesir. Iansi's growl was long and challenging. Let her prove her worth. This is the most fight I've seen in the white wing here since she invaded my territory and I want to know what makes her so special as to have caught my mother's eye. The beast chuffed, rose to his hind legs and then fell forward, causing the earth beneath them to shudder in consequence. He repeated the action, once, twice, three times in quick succession, each one more excited than the last.
"No!" Macha cried, and her voice was harsh and jagged like a crow's. "Both of you calm down! We won't be able to leave this place for the Green Trail to find this 'Tanarak' if the two of you are at each other's throats!"
Her words at least reached Urd, who looked away from them both, hiding her anger and frustration as she glared towards the tree line. Her wings drew close to her body, an unconscious move Urd had often attributed with unease on World of Elegance's part and which now displayed her own distress like the tail on a cat. Her own frustration, her own confusion mounting, the woman ran her hand through her hair, turning away from the bear spirit and instead catching a glimpse of silver slipping into the shadows of the trees.
The woman froze, waiting to see if she'd see it again or if her eyes were playing tricks on her.
"What is it?" Urd jumped, turning and finding both Macha and Iansi watching her carefully.
The winged Norn looked back, yet nothing but trees and shrubs met her gaze, odd if only for the strange colors of the land they inhabited. "…It's nothing." She said.
Don't lie. Iansi growled.
"Iansi…" Macha warned, casting a glare towards the bear. "Are there others on this plane?"
The bear chuffed. If there were others you'd have come across them long ago.
"So its just the three of us then." Macha stated, then looked back to Urd. "Did you see something?"
"No," Urd shook her head, "it was just my imagination."
"In a world like this, imagination can't be trusted." Macha replied. "The rules of the living don't apply here."
"How reassuring." Urd grumbled. "I didn't see anyone or anything." She re-emphasized. "It was nothing, really. I—my wing hurts is all. From the bola."
"I'm not too sure…" Macha muttered, yet did not elaborate, instead changing the subject. "Well, now that we're all a bit calmer," she said, "how about we discuss our current situation like the grown-ass adults we are?" She sent a pointed look at both Urd and the Bear. "We can sit and have a little talk while I remove the bola and return it to its owner."
Urd grimaced, her face twisting into a scowl even as Iansi growled. Yet to both their credit, neither the Norn nor the bear took the Aesir up on the unspoken challenge. Instead, Iansi settled down on the ground, where even sitting he towered over the women. Macha followed his example, sitting down near a tree trunk and resting her back against it. It did not escape Urd that the woman intentionally placed herself directly between the Norn and the bear, and for that, the winged goddess was grateful. With some hesitation she joined the two, and found the move uncomfortable as the muscles in her long wings began to protest. Groaning against limbs her body didn't normally have, the woman leaned forward, keeping the awkward limbs elevated in a stance that would later grow into a long-standing habit.
"Here, turn for me. Let me see your wings." Macha said, and as Urd followed her instruction Macha began the tedious process of untangling the bola twine form her wing. "So," Macha began, "I believe some introductions are in order. Some proper ones, if we're going to work together. I'm Macha. I was…I think I was a Valkyrie." The woman made a face, one that could not seem to decide on a grimace or a smile. "…I want to say I was a prisoner of war. I…don't know, to be honest. My memory has been, um…fading, bit by bit since coming here." The woman paused, removing the last of the string and then tossing the bola off towards the bear spirit, then leaned back.
Urd sighed, stretching her wings out to their maximum width and giving them an experimental flap. Feathers, broken loose by her fall, fluttered from her wings. Though the wings were sore, the sharp pain that had accompanied the bola was now absent. A bit more content, the Norn folded them back against her body.
Macha paused in her tale, picking up one of the white feathers that now rested on the ground. "I'm keeping this." She stated, and at Urd's look of confusion, explained, "I-my angel had white wings too, before I came here. I...don't want to forget that."
Urd frowned, bemused. "Keep it, then." She said. "It's not like I can place it back in my wing."
Macha sent her a relieved smile. "...Thanks." She muttered, before braiding it into her dark hair. The feather glimmered like a diamond resting amidst coal. Sucking in a long, deep breath, the woman continued. "I…think I died in a cell. Or around…demons." The woman scrunched her brows together. "…Bioweapon." She muttered, her gaze lost and distant. "There was a…bioweapon." Immediately she shook her head, returning to her senses. "I don't know. I just…woke up here." She swept an arm around her.
The bear sighed, resting its head on its paws as it observed Macha with disinterest. Someone from one of the Tribes buried you here. He said. The proper rights were conducted, but you were probably buried like me, in a small unmarked grave with just enough of a stone to be remembered by.
"Because 'how else would I come to dwell here', right?" Macha retorted, sending the bear a pointed look as she played with the white feather in her hair.
The bear chuffed.
"A bioweapon…" Urd mumbled, her frown pensive. "…Like… a Rabishu?" She asked, and watched as Macha's orange eyes widened, the color draining from her face as she stared at the Norn in alarm.
"Rabishu…" The Aesir trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. A hand went to her head, and the woman stared at Urd as if the Norn had just awakened a horrible memory for her.
"I fought one. Lind-" Urd sent a pointed look at Iansi, "-Tanarak and I. It…came to Midgard. A group of extremist demons had acquired it."
"Are you serious?!" Macha's voice had fallen into a tight and fearful whisper, the tension in her body so tight that at any moment Urd feared she might snap.
"It's dead now." Urd said. "Tanarak and I killed it. And… some friends were taking care of the ones responsible for it."
"Is that how you ended up here?" Macha asked, then looked around as if in hindsight, "But then, where is Tanarak?"
"On the Green Trail." Urd replied. "She was gravely wounded when I…learned of it."
From my mother. Iansi supplied. The same one that guided you here.
"Yes." Urd replied, the frown on her face deepening. "Which leads me back to finding a way to the Green Trail, since you, Macha, were incapable of accessing it." She turned to Iansi. "Can you?" She looked at the bear expectantly.
An ear twitched. If I were capable of such a thing, I would not be harassed in my waking hours by this pest of a woman here. He bared his teeth, raising his head as he glared at Macha. Macha ignored him, her attention focused on Urd. I know of no way to guide you to the Green Trail. Not my caribou, not my meal.
"You fought a Rabishu…" Macha whispered, and the haunted look on her face was disconcerting to behold. "I remember…terror with that name…" The woman shook her head, as if trying to banish the emotions tied to the word. "Have they really become so common?" She asked, less of a question and more her own thoughts, "Are they that widely dispersed now?!"
"No." Urd replied. "From what I know, there are only a set amount of them, each one tracked."
"But then how did-" Macha was growing visibly upset, the grimace on her face twisting into a dismayed snarl that spoke of a deep, inner pain. "On Midgard no less?! And you defeated it?!" The woman wrapped her arms around herself, and Urd watched with mixed emotions as she shivered. "That thing…I close my eyes and all I can see is my angel when you say that word…" She whispered, "My angel shrieking…. Oh Yggdrasil, my poor Red Morrigan…" The woman moaned, seeming to somehow fall into herself, her eyes distant and unfocused, lost in the horrors of her memories.
"Macha?" Urd moved to rise, but Iansi beat her to it, rising to his feet and swatting the woman over with a paw larger than the Aesir's head. There was a surprising lack of hostility in the action, the large claws, almost a full twelve inches in length, splayed out and away from the woman to prevent undue injury.
Macha shrieked, a sound filled with such wretched horror that it sent ice down Urd's back, then fell to her side as Iansi lumbered over her, sticking his muzzle in front of her face and growling. Now Urd did rise to her feet, alarmed that what the bear was doing would only aggravate the Aesir's condition. "Get away from-" Macha coughed, gagged, then gasped, and Iansi raised his head, glaring at Urd as a hand weakly reached up and pulled at the fur on his neck.
"Iansi?" The woman's voice trembled with suppressed emotion. The Aesir sucked in a deep breath, then gripped the bear with her other hand, fingers burying into thick fur as Macha used Iansi to pull herself up. "Yggdrasil….bless it." The warrior buried her face in the bear's fur, and for a long moment did nothing else, grounding herself in a manner that brought back images of Belldandy.
Every day, the same thing. Iansi complained. Something sets you off, something sends you away, and I am the one who must wake you. The blue grizzly angled his head to look down at the woman, then turned his gaze to Urd. The bear snorted. You had to speak, didn't you, White Wing.
Urd winced reflexively, recalling her own experience with the Angel Eater. "I apologize." She said in earnest. "Had I known you had past…experience with that-that thing, I wouldn't have said anything."
Macha didn't respond immediately, instead moving only once Iansi began to growl once more, shifting his weight impatiently. "Thanks," she muttered, releasing the spirit in favor of running her hands through her hair, sucking in a long, deep breath in the process. Then she screamed, startling the Norn. "Fuck! Yggdrasil thrice-cursed bastards! May their innards be ripped from their flesh! May they taste their intestines as they die! May they lie weeping in their own filth as they descend into Death's dark embrace!" She looked over at Urd, and the horror was gone, hidden behind a mask of fury. "I hope they rot in the deepest, most decrepit cell for eternity! Let them beg for death and be denied it ten times over!" She stared at Urd, a snarl on her face, her chest heaving with unkempt rage. "And for you and your comrade, I hope you both find the peace that was denied to my flight."
Urd kept her silence, reflecting on her own battle against the Rabishu. Lind's horror returned to her, and the name called out in a despair so heart-wrenching, so anguished, that even now the memory hurt. 'Rota'. That Angel Eater's host. What had she been to Lind, to have recognized the expired Aesir in such a mutated state? What nightmarish hell had Lind gone through that had left not only a comrade host to such a horror, but had left the Aesir with the same knowledge that even amongst demons was considered Top Secret Information? Spear Mint came to mind-Spear Mint with her missing wing, and Urd shivered, nauseated by the possibilities held in that unknown. What had Macha experienced with the Angel Eater?
Before her, Macha was sucking one breath after another through clenched teeth. She was slow to regain her baring, but regain it she did, and for that Urd admired her. "I'm okay." The Aesir growled. "I'm okay." Another staggered breath. "Need a moment."
"Take your time." Urd replied, and she glanced up at the bear sitting beside the Aesir. The grizzly's ears were back, a look of contempt on his face that was so human she could almost read Iansi's thoughts. Say something, I dare you. That look read. Give me a reason.
Yet Urd said nothing, meeting his gaze with steely, heterochronic eyes like her lost angel.
Ignorant of the battle of wills going on between the Norn and the Spirit, Macha sucked in one final breath, fingers messaging her temples in slow, methodical circles. "I think there might be a way to get to the Green Trail." She admitted, and both Urd and Iansi abandoned their staring contest in favor of looking down at Macha.
You have said nothing of this before. Iansi began. If you know a way, why have you not spoken of it? Why have you not left?
"Hey, Shag Rug, why don't you shut up a moment?" Urd spoke up, and Iansi narrowed his eyes at her, lips pulling back to give her a full view of the large teeth and black gums within his maw. "She's explaining that now."
Macha grimaced. "Both of you, stop." She grumbled. "I don't need another fight between the two of you." The woman scowled, falling as once more she became the center of attention. The Aesir took a deep breath. "Because I don't like it." She admitted, her hand once more drifting to the feather in her hair. "And I don't even know if what I'm sensing is right-I don't know if it will send me or even you, Urd, over to the Green Trail."
"What is it?" Urd asked.
"A feeling." Macha said. "A…tug. Sometimes, when I'm roaming, I feel it—a pull. Sometimes I'll follow it…" The Aesir trailed off.
But… Iansi supplied.
"But it doesn't feel right." Macha nodded. "There's something…off. Something that feels…bad. How to describe it… like when you're hunting, and you feel a predator gazing at your back, but no matter where you turn, you can't see it, but you know it's there because the animals have all fallen silent." The woman fell quiet, looking first at the ground, then over her shoulder towards the treeline. "It's like that but…worse. Not a predator but something worse, and you aren't being chased by it…you're being pulled towards it."
Iansi sat a little straighter, ears perked forward in interest. You've said nothing about this before.
"Are you saying you've sensed something similar?"
No.
Macha looked back at Urd. "And you?" She asked. "Earlier…did you sense something like that? You looked like something had caught your attention."
"No." Urd shook her head. "…And I think if I felt something like that, I'd run the opposite direction as well. What makes you think something like that will lead you to the Green Trail?"
"The sole fact that I'm the only one affected by it." Macha replied. "I'm the only Valkyrie here-I think. The only one who could…qualify for the Green Trail." She looked at Iansi. "You were a freedom fighter, right? But you said your people-even the warriors-have never heard of a 'Green Trail' before, and that you observe the rights of the Yakone, the Red Aura, which is where we are now."
Yes. Said Iansi. I care not for qallunaat beliefs. I came here as I am thanks to my mother, who protects the Yakone as part of her duties to the Underworld. My father wanted me forgotten. My mother did not. So I came here to help guide those souls passing through.
"But I haven't seen anyone else here outside of you two." Urd replied. "Must be a pretty boring job."
The bear snarled at her in silent protest. Qallunaat cannot see those who pass through here. He said. To you it is empty and dead. To me it is alive with wanderers and travelers awaiting their next incarnation.
"Can they see us?" Macha asked.
No more than you can see them. Iansi replied.
"And Lind—Tanarak isn't any of them?" Urd asked.
If she was, would you be here now? The grizzly huffed. Don't waste my time.
"Getting back on topic," Macha interrupted, stopping the conversation before it could dissolve into another argument. "As Iansi said, there's nothing to tie him to the Green Trail. Nothing to-to draw him to it. He's here in the Yakone for a particular reason. And you, Urd, seem to be in a similar situation, if I'm understanding it correctly? You don't…have the bearing of a warrior. You weren't a Valkyrie, were you? Or else… you'd be in the Green Trail after Iansi's sister as well, right?"
Urd pursed her lips, but nodded none the less. "The only reason I'm here is because of his mother." She chucked a thumb over towards Iansi, who laid his ears back in irritation. "The only thing I know about the Green Trail is what I heard from one of the women who raised me, who was a Valkyrie herself before she…retired."
Macha nodded, a growing, pensive frown on her face. "Then of all of us, I'd be the only one who would…qualify for the Green Trail." She said slowly. "So…maybe that's what's pulling me?" She said.
Iansi growled. I don't like this.
"Hear me out." Macha said. "I don't belong here. You know it, I know it, hell, even Urd knows it at this point. Yes, I was given burial rights to come here but…I was never intended for this land. If I was…if what you said was true about these other spirits who are passing through…Than I should be able to see them. I should be one of them. Yet I can't interact with them, and they can't interact with me. Only you can, Iansi. Even Urd is an…intruder here."
"And you think you're being drawn to the Green Trail some how?" Urd asked.
"Yes." Macha nodded. "It's…the best theory I have going for me right now. With that…presence I sense."
Of a predator. Iansi recounted. One that you sense but cannot see.
"Yes…" Macha said, and Urd could see the trepidation in her face.
Iansi snorted, tossing his head. I don't like it. He grumbled. If you belong to this other world, it should feel warm and inviting to you. Not like a predator…an enemy about to ambush you in the bush.
Macha shrugged. "I could be wrong." She said. "Hell, I probably am-I have no supporting evidence, only a hunch to go off of.
"A hunch that could be dangerous if its wrong." Urd muttered, and thought of what she'd glimpsed through the trees.
The Aesir grimaced. "Right now it seems like the only lead we have, unless you're hiding something else up your sleeve." She replied.
Urd shook her head. Macha nodded. "That's what I thought." She said.
Are you feeling it now? Iansi asked, That pull?
Uncomfortably, Macha nodded. The others fell silent, torn on what to do.
Then Urd scowled, wrapping her arms around herself in a discomforted embrace. "…Are you willing to follow the pull if we come with you?" She asked, sending Macha a sidelong glance.
Biting her lip, Macha looked to the ground, yet nonetheless nodded.
Urd bowed her head with a sigh. "Let's get walking then." She announced.
XXX
It was hard to judge how long or how far they walked; there was no sense of time within the Yakone, for the light did not intensify or diminish, nor vary in scenery to show the distance traveled, unless one paid particular attention to the details of a tree or bush. The sun did not set. The moon did not rise. The sky did not change its colors. One tree looked identical to the fifth, the twentieth, the hundredth, and each trail looked identical to the last. Macha led the way, Iansi close behind her and Urd bringing up the rear. On occasion the Valkyrie would pause, look around as if searching for something, and then abruptly change direction with little to no warning. They could have walked fifty miles in fifty minutes, or fifty feet in fifty years. It made no difference, and after a time Urd stopped trying to track their path; even trained as she'd been by her grandfather, there was nothing to distinguish one bit of land from the rest: no birds, no prints, no broken branches or fresh scents.
Outside of the trio who traveled together, as far as Urd could distinguish, they were alone.
Was the Yakone really brimming with other spirits as Iansi claimed?
Was there even a route to the Green Trail Lind was a part of?
Urd was beginning to have her doubts. We're walking around in circles, she thought.
Then why are you still following them? A piece of her asked.
I've got no other leads, she told it. And I'd rather be with these two rather than against them.
You hold no faith to Macha's words? The voice inquired. Then you should cease this game and let your thoughts be known.
Urd held her peace, perturbed by her own thoughts. It wasn't that she had no faith in Macha, or her words; the circumstances leading to not only their meeting, but the search for the Green Trail were strange enough to defy expectation, reason, and any concept of celestial Laws of Power which the Norn had learned growing up in both Niflheim and Asgard.
And yet…
She was hesitant. Mistrustful even. Reluctant.
Yes. Urd thought. That's a good word for it: Reluctant. Reluctant to trust, reluctant to follow, reluctant to believe after…
After…
The woman grimaced, feeling a throb of pain travel through her skull. The Norn clutched her temple, rubbing the area that pained her. I lost something. She thought, grateful she was so far behind the others as she gazed at her arm. She eyed the strange, tattoo like patterns which so emulated her own angel, and the odd, patterned tattoo that stood out as odd and foreign around her wrist. It hurt to remember what had happened after the battle with the Rabishu. Everything had since become a blur of sensation and emotion, ranging from one extreme to another, with her as little more than a passenger along for a nightmarish ride through Hell.
I'm tired, she thought, and with it a wave of exhaustion, real or imagined, came sweeping down onto her shoulders. I'm tired of all of it. The fights. The battles. The adventures…I just…I just want peace, she thought. Her steps began to slow, and the Norn lagged behind her companions, not realizing or uncaring that she was slowly losing them within the forest. The goddess stopped, resting a hand on a tree, and continued to massage her temples. I just want to rest a bit. That's all, she thought. Just…enough for the pain to fade. To forget the pain. To just… She leaned against the tree, then slid down against it, coming to rest on her knees. I just want to forget… Her head was swimming, and deep down, some piece of her recognized that she was in a dangerous spot.
Her tattooed wrist was beginning to burn, yet Urd ignored it, settling against the tree and drawing her wings up around her, blocking out the light, blocking out the world, blocking out everything as she closed her eyes. She hugged herself, and the burning in her wrist grew stronger, hotter, harder to ignore even as she pushed the pain away.
Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe she shouldn't have come here. Maybe it would have been easier to just fade away rather than persevere. And she'd lost…so much. Yes…so, so much. Curled up away as she was, the memories came a bit easier now. Belldandy, Lind, her angel, her home…even her grandfather, whom she'd always shared such a special relationship with; a close friend who had taken the time to know her in a way no one else in Asgard-not even Belldandy-ever had.
I can't do this, she thought, and felt a wave of unwanted depression descend upon her. The Norn pushed it away, yet like a heavy blanket it would not be shoved off. The woman struggled, searching for any other emotion to combat the depression. Let her anger, let her rage, let her despise and hate and ravage everything! But don't let her fall into the void of depression.
Everything will fade away if you let it. A voice, dissimilar to the one in her head, pierced through the fog. The pain, the loss, the memories…if you do not stir, they will overwhelm you. Overtake you. Change you into a form the does not think, does not stir, does not feel. You will become like the trees. Like the bushes. Like the rocks. A presence unnoticed, ignored and forgotten. Is that what you wish? There was a bite to the words. A bite that reminded Urd of Niflheim, of Hild, of Instinct and Survival.
Her wrist was throbbing. It felt like someone had wrapped a white-hot chain around it.
That's not what I want, she thought. But I'm just so tired-
You tire of living, is that it? The voice scolded, and within her mind Urd imagined the trail of a wild, silver mane swirling towards her. Her eyes opened before the owner of the mane could face her. Stand up, Child. You have life yet in you, and family who would mourn you even as you mourn them now. Violence is life-
"-There is only peace in death." Urd finished, and let her wings droop to her sides, revealing the forest around her once more. "So struggle and survive, grow rampant and prosper. Fortune and fortitude are found only within the jaws of the manticore." She sucked in a deep breath, "Vili vowed violent vengeance very vehemently." She said, and pushed herself to her feet. "Vile valley violets varied the Vila's virtue." The goddess felt a little better now. Even if it was from an old Falkin saying and a couple of tongue-twisters Odin had taught her in her youth. She had always struggled with the letter 'v' and its pronunciation. The tongue-twisters had, as a result, always been a source of concentration and in some ways meditation for her, allowing the goddess to re-focus her attention when she needed it most. "I'm okay." She muttered. "Just a moment. That was all I needed. Just a moment to kick my head back into the proper gear."
The goddess grimaced, before once more taking a deep breath. "FUCK. EVERYTHING!" She screamed, and her cry in that moment sounded less like a human voice and more like a raptor's trill. Yet she felt a bit more like herself afterwards, a bit more like 'Urd' and less like whatever she'd become since arriving in this new world. "Lind, I'm going to kick your ass so fucking hard after I find you!" She announced, rubbing her wrist as some of the pain eased from the tattoos. "Maybe your mom too." She grunted, glaring down at the tattoo in question with a dark glower. "Or thank her, Nidhogg bless it, maybe both."
So distracted was she by her own monologue she almost missed the laughter that arose from behind her.
Busted. Urd thought, feeling her cheeks flush as she turned around to face Iansi and Macha.
Neither was there.
Instead, Urd once more caught sight of a wild mane of silver as it vanished between the tree trunks, and without thinking Urd bolted after it. "Wait!" She called, yet once more found the mysterious owner gone. The woman froze, her heart ramming in her chest, and heard breaking branches growing farther away off to her left. Without pause the goddess chased after it, determined to see the owner and growing only further discouraged as the sounds grew farther from her. Again she paused, worry and confusion pushing aside any residual depression in favor of this new figure. "Where the fuck did you go?" She whispered hotly, scanning the trees around her and straining her ears for anything which might hint to this new person.
Another flash of silver to her right, and the Norn was off, dead set on catching the stranger before they could scurry off once more. She found herself once more on a trail of some sort, and with a path laid out, increased her speed, racing with all her might down the trail after the specter.
The woman ran so hard, in fact, that when two new figures stepped out of the woods and onto the trail, the Norn could not slow herself enough to prevent colliding with them.
And so it was Urd crashed into a confused Macha and an enraged Iansi.
"What the-"
How did-
"Where'd you-"
The collision was fast, spectacular, and painful to behold, the two Aesir hitting each other with enough force to not only knock Macha off her feet, but to send both of the women tumbling further down the trail with what remained of Urd's forward momentum. Iansi raced after them on four legs, his angry roar somehow distant and unimportant as first Urd, then Macha groaned in pain.
"I feel like someone threw an angel-shaped boulder at me." Macha moaned, and on top of her, Urd held her peace, silver stars dancing in front of her vision like the phantom that had so teased her. "Weren't you behind us?"
"Needed a moment." Urd grunted, then yelped as a pair of massive paws lined with claws bigger than her hands scooped her off the ground.
Off. Iansi said, then unceremoniously dropped the Norn into a bush, causing another yelp-this one filled with obscenities-from the goddess in question. The Norn cast aside, the Spirit knelt down beside Macha, watching as the Valkyrie picked herself back up.
"What happen?" Macha asked as Urd fought her way out of the bush. "I thought you were behind me."
Urd grunted but didn't give a direct answer. Instead she looked at Iansi. "You're certain we're the only ones on this…plane?" She asked. "Macha, myself, you…your other…residents-they reside on a different plane, right?"
She earned a growl from Iansi, who narrowed his eyes at the Norn. What are you accusing me of? He demanded.
"Throwing me in a bush." Urd muttered, and deflated, the goddess shook her head. "…Never mind. Did you find your…'tug' yet, Macha?"
Macha sent the Norn a peculiar glance. "…I'd been following it until an angel-shaped meteor crashed into me." She retorted.
Urd winced.
"…Otherwise…it's been growing stronger." The woman closed her eyes, facing away from Urd and Iansi. "…Actually…if I had to judge by how far you sent me tumbling to the ground, I'd almost thing you were running towards it." She looked back at Urd, an observant frown on her face. "…Did you feel a tug, too?" The woman leveled her eyes on the goddess.
Urd held her gaze. "No." She replied. "I fell behind and got lost." She said. "I…panicked."
Macha fell silent, staring at Urd with a deepening frown. Urd bristled, yet did not look away, refusing to submit in an action so Falkin her Wilder would have beamed with pride. Her gaze instead remained level with the Valkyries, calm and without implication, and it was Macha who looked away first, this time to send a glare at their other companion. "Iansi, why didn't you tell me Urd got lost?" She demanded. "You know how easy it is to get lost on this plane-Yggdrasil knows I've lost myself here dozens of times-and you can sense us; you know exactly where 'intruders' such as us are at any given time per your responsibilities as a Guardian."
Urd blinked in disbelief, then she looked over to the bear-man. "Is that true?!" She demanded. "You mean you- I-" She cut herself off when the beast sent her a flat stare, then tossed him a middle finger. "Up yours, Bearmeat." She grumbled.
The sooner I'm rid of the both of you the happier I'll be. Iansi replied and offered no explanation of his own. You said we are nearing your 'tug'? He looked at Macha. Then let us hurry before you either lose it or more of you appear.
Macha scowled at him, then shook her head. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just-fine." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Come on, let's go." Muttering to herself, she turned away and stomped down the path.
Urd sent a shrewd look at Iansi. "You really are an asshole, you know that?" She said, then turned and chased after Macha, leaving the Spirit to bring up the rear.
Iansi grumbled and lumbered after them.
The trio continued down the path in an uncomfortable, tense silence. The path, like the others, was little more than an animal trail through the brush. After some time, Macha abruptly halted, and Urd almost ran into her with the sudden stop. Unaware of the deity at her back, Macha tilted her head to one side, her eyes scanning the area around them, lips pursed in a thin, straight line.
The warrior turned, one eye closed in concentration, stepping first to the left, then two steps to the right. Back three steps. Forward by four. The Valkyrie paused, then opened her eye again, looking at Urd and Iansi both. "I think—" She began.
The air shimmered behind her, like air caught in a heat wave. Urd's eyes widened.
Yet even as she moved forward to grab the woman, the air-the space-was torn open.
Macha! Iansi's mental roar was deafening, and the Spirit lumbered forward with an agility frightening to behold in a beast so large. He reached for the Valkyrie even as-Urd didn't know if it was a paw or a hand or a talon or something else-reached around Macha's waist, yanking the woman off her feet and back towards the torn open hole.
Macha screamed, reaching out to the Norn and the Spirit, and Iansi grabbed one arm even as Urd grabbed the other with both hands. "It's got me!" Macha screamed, "Oh Yggdrasil, it's a Rabishu! It was a trap all along!" The woman's voice grew shrill and panicked, "Don't let it take me! Don't let it fucking take me!"
Urd grimaced, pulling back on Macha's arm with all her might. Whatever had her didn't look-didn't remind her of an Angel Eater-not after hearing its screams, not after falling victim to its attacks. This was something else, something worse she suspected, and she'd be damned if she let the-the thing take her kinsman.
Beside her Iansi bellowed, leaning back and earning a fresh scream of pain from Macha. We've got you! There was confidence in his voice; confidence Urd didn't feel, but sure as hell wanted to take faith in at that particular moment. Stay with us, Macha, we've got you, we aren't going to let you go!
Around her waist, the…appendage pulled harder, enticing another cry from the woman. Urd, straining too hard to waste her breath on a word of confidence, beat her wings, dust and dirt spraying the air as the Norn dug her heels into the soft earth, hoping to gain some leverage, some small additional strength that might turn the tide against the creature from the other side.
Macha's screams grew louder, more pained, more desperate.
We're tearing her apart. Urd thought, her own terror mounting. That thing won't let go of her-the hole's too small for it to fit through, but it's got her and it won't let go. The screams persisted. Urd felt a shock of ice jolt down her spine. We'll either rip her arms off or it'll tear her in half. She realized. Whichever comes first. It's not going to let go!
"Iansi!" Urd snarled, glancing at the beast-man.
I know! Came the roaring reply. And I refuse to let her go!
"Then let's go with her!" Urd cried. "We'll cut it off on the other side and bolt back through the hole!"
"Urd, don't you fucking dare!" Macha shrieked. "It'll kill us all!"
We haven't got any other plans, and I'm not letting you go! Iansi growled back.
"I…never...said-"
"Bicker later, fight first!" Urd snapped as she tucked her wings tight against her body and stopped fighting the pull. She had just enough time to see Iansi's snarling muzzle before he too, stopped fighting, and the three of them were flung plummeting into the void.
Comments of a Madwoman: Surprise Motherfuckers. We're back. Stay at home, curl up, and get ready.
