Sorry for the delay, but too much work stole me time to write,
But I hope you would consider it was worth the wait.
Elnauhual
The order of the Mortal Knights
By Elnauhual
Fan fiction, inspired by "Oh My Goddess" by Kosuke Fujishima.
Chapter XXX
Family reunion.
It was already noon when Giorgio heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Though they were expected, he looked around nervously. Even with many years of experience covering news, this time he could not help but feel a deep unease. The events of the previous day's were something completely outside his experience and now he could barely refrain from the desire to run screaming.
He heard a familiar voice whispering behind him.
- Giorgio, is everything okay? I heard some strange stories along the way, something about a huge explosion and strange lights in the sky.
Giorgio shuddered at the confirmation that it had not been an illusion, with a barely audible voice he replied:
- Thank God you came! We need to report to someone about what is happening here.
The newcomer answered with surprise:
- But I have not finished negotiating the price of the photos and videos!
Unable to contain himself, Giorgio laboriously dragged himself out from his hiding, trying not to expose himself, thus advanced a few meters until he meet the man who was waiting crouched, looking him straight in the eyes, still not daring to get up said anxiously.
- I do no longer care! this is too important!. I Still cannot believe what I saw yesterday, but I would swear it was a nuclear explosion.
- Nuclear?, - His partner could not help but express his disbelief - that's impossible. How can you be so sure?, From what I know about them - said pointing towards the town - they are so radical that no one would dare to sell them such material. What exactly did you see?, It´s the first time I've seen you so scared.
Giorgio looked around, He could hardly deny his fear.
- While I can not identify exactly what I saw, I know something about nuclear weapons and this is something completely new. The bomb or whatever it was, was extremely small, I could not see it, but it was not bigger than a pack of cigarettes, yet the blast had to be on the scale of kilotons.
His partner stared at him incredulously. - That's impossible. No nuclear device can be so small.
- I saw it and I have the recording!, the world must know what is happening, I do not care if no one pay us. Besides, they have been putting land mines around the town. That is something I know about, I have survived some. They laid mines of all kinds, most are unstable war leftovers so this area is very dangerous now, they are protecting themselves against something without caring about risking their own people!
His companion could not hide his amazement, despite their long collaboration, this time it was hard to believe his colleague words. Impatient at his disbelief and with nervous hands Giorgio took out the cameras memories from his pockets and handed them to him. His mate took them with skepticism. He proceeded to unpack the laptop he carried in his backpack. Under Giorgio´s impatient eyes, he powered on the machine, waited until the OS fully started and slowly inserted the camcorder flash memory. Impatiently, Giorgio pointed out one of the videos and played it.
The man watched the scene and his incredulity began to fade out when the huge flash of light played back at the computer screen... Slowly his skepticism was replaced with fear. At the end of the video, he froze and after some hesitation declared decisively:
- I will begin to send the information, you are right, this is too much for us.
He took off his backpack and unpacked a parabolic dish for a satellite Internet connection. With a speed derived from experience, within minutes located a satellite, established the link and connected to his laptop to the link. He took all the memory cards with videos and photos, in order to start the upload, but was interrupted by Giorgio, he gave him another memory of one of the digital cameras saying
- Send this first!.
Intrigued, the man took the memory card.
- What do you have in this memory.?
- I told you, They spent the morning mining the fields around the town. In other parts of the world I have seen what they can do, and I know clearing mines is costly in lives and money, especially with so unstable mines, so I photographed the position of all the mines as they laid them. The agency will not pay for it, but send it anyway, they should send it to the authorities.
His companion raised his eyebrows with an air of resignation, but said nothing. But he could not help thinking about the cost of their little operation and their limited resources.
He opened the link to their sponsoring agency and began to send the files. Even with compression they accounted for several gigabytes of information, it would take awhile to upload them, so he decided he could use some time and take a look at the site, at his request Giorgio nodded and led him behind some rocks that would allow him to watch without attracting attention.
Despite having seen it on video, reality was more shocking. There in the desert there was a crater and debris that testified the explosion´s power. Suddenly they heard the sound of motor vehicles approaching. They lay down, while Giorgio only raising his camera to record while both were watching the LCD display.
They could see the approach of a dozen vehicles, they were an assorted collection, old, ancient, new, battered and some barely usable. They stopped just before reaching the minefield, several men got out of the vehicles to signal to the men at the village. Soon several men left the village, but not by the main road, but zigzagging as if there was an invisible road, until they meet the newcomers. There was a lively discussion. After watching them for a moment, Giorgio´s mate began to stir and suddenly said.
- Can you photograph their faces? I think we can still get some extra money.
- Do you know them? - Giorgio wondered intrigued.
- I think I can recognize some faces, there is a very good reward for them. We only need to send those pictures to the right people. I think I'll stay with you, something big is cooking here and we must feed the curiosity of the world.
Unlike the austere Yggdrasil´s main center, the administrative center was a beautiful, large and elegant building, designed to inspire tranquility, it looked more like an orderly garden than a control center. But now instead of the peace it should inspire, the place was so full of activity that it seemed more like an angry hive. Gods and goddesses from every level and craft were working side by side. The sober uniform of the wise was mixed with the bright colors of the students, the simple dress of the administrative class and the fancy dress of the artists' guild. Everyone worked hard to repair the nerve center of their universe, but at a closer look the apparent confusion was not. While there was a sense of urgency, they moved with the grace of a well-rehearsed dance. Between the gods existed a deep empathy that allowed them to perform complex work as if they had a single will, and that despite their diversity all of them acted like the gears of a perfect machine moving in unison in the same goal. There was so much to be done in order to accomplish Yggdrasil´s full recovery.
In the center of the complex dance of gods, a small figure was the center of the action. Her precise and complex orders contrasted with her childish attitude to the setbacks that she constantly had. Skuld could empathize with the large computer she was repairing, but even with all her great expertise would not refrain her from screaming, crying or even have tantrums every time some new misfortune appeared. Despite such display, the gods under her command just patiently awaited their orders. Regardless of their immaturity, she was not only was one of the Norns and the sister of the current Kamisama, but they knew she was someone who had by birth high, level knowledge and technical skills right for the job, a job that had been codified into her, even before was born.
For a human, it would be strange for a being with Skuld´s age to be so immature, but when you have eternal life, a childhood of centuries or millennia is natural.
The hours seemed to pass slowly, the work continued interrupted only by some tantrums but gradually the system error messages began to disappear. Skuld began to relax and went from despair to euphoria. Almost without realizing it, she began to improvise a silly ditty while none of the gods took care, but they cared when Skuld started to shout.
- It´s almost done!, I only need the final diagnosis. I made it!
Some gods smiled at Skuld's failure to take into account their own work, but in a world of immortals, children are so rare that no one could take it badly, especially when it actually seemed as if their work was about to come to an end.
Everyone now looked carefully at the information screens floating everywhere, while Skuld started what she hoped would be the last diagnosis. Tension was felt in the air as hundreds of expectant eyes looked at the displays and petabytes of information were analyzed in matter of seconds.
Finally the diagnostic software came to an end and presented its report: There were no errors in the system.
Skuld started jumping from her seat with joy and her euphoria began to spread among the gods.
Since the destruction of the great council building, only Belldandy, the powerful goddess that had replaced the old Kamisama, had prevented the world of the gods from going into panic. But now Belldandy had disappeared without a trace, and anxiety had begun to spread again among the gods. The restoration of Yggdrasil to a full operational state was a great achievement for all, so their anxiety was reduced.
However, not everyone was smiling. A beautiful goddess with short black hair, and a revealing outfit did not seem to share the general enthusiasm. Though she did not possess all of Skuld skills, the goddess Peorth had much experience in the system and felt that something was not right. She opened the diagnostic report on her personal console and analyzed with critical eye without caring about the general euphoria. Her beautiful face showed a grimace while she pondered her feelings. She realized that she could not avoid a tinge of resentment, after all she was the Sysop officially in charge of the system, yet she knew Skuld's skills were better than hers and had been voluntarily set aside to left her work. She hesitated for a moment, could it be that her resentment would make her see problems where there were none?. Wondering about it, she reviewed the report one more time and marked some suspicious items. They could not be reported as errors, still she did not like them. She pondered on then and finally could not contain herself, she rose from her seat and spoke with an authoritative voice.
- Silence all!, we will start reviewing the system from the beginning.
A hundred eyes turned to see her and Skuld uttered an indignant cry:
- What? Everything is fine, not a single error is left on the system. Never before has Yggdrasil has been so free of errors and ...
- Skuld! - Peorth interrupted - Exactly, ever since I remember Yggdrasil has never reported completely zero errors at low level. Can't you see? It's too perfect!.
Skuld froze, She felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on her. She knew the system, it was so huge and complex that there had always been some errors at that level...But her technical pride was at stake and ignored that thought immediately.
- Nonsense, I did a good job, so good that there are no defects left in the system, and that is because I'm the best. I declare the system is a hundred percent operational!.
Peorth not expect such sharp rejection in public. Even if she was a child, she was a Norn, and the sister of the current Kamisama, so she had enough influence to contradict her even if technically she was just another operator. The beautiful goddess clenched her fists with a barely contained anger, but after a few seconds a smile appeared on her face. There was an area of knowledge where she was far superior to Skuld. She calmed down and replied in a condescending and sweet tone.
- I apologize mon chéri, I appreciate your diagnosis, even more, I think you should personally inform Bell ..."Ah…! To Kamisama that Yggdrasil has been fully repaired with your help.
- But I do not know where is Belldandy - said Skuld- The system refuses to give access to her since she became Kamisama.
- Well then you should go out and find her, your job is done and I personally will check that it will be recorded on your file as a great achievement - Peorth hesitated a moment and then said that word that in heaven is considered almost taboo - you could even ... build a machine to find her... - Some gods showed astonishment at the mention of the "M" word, but Skuld ignored them and jumped in joy - You can go now.!
Skuld uttered a joyful scream and disappeared as if by magic, her passion for building machines had never been appreciated and that a senior god almost ordered her to build one was more than she had dreamed.
After Skuld´s disappearance, several gods began to prepare to leave the place, but the Peorth stopped them with a sharp command.
- Belay that!, all proceed now to your assigned stations, we will repeat the diagnostics from the beginning.
There was a general murmur of disapproval and a voice protested
- But Skuld declare the system fully repaired!.
- Skuld is no longer here. I am now the ultimate authority here. Now go to your posts. This time I want a manual diagnostic for each one of the system processes.
The gods looked at each other dumbfounded. The number of systems and subsystems of the most complex computer system that had existed was almost infinite. An old god spoke with annoyed voice.
- It will take a very long time and ...
- Exactly, that is why we will not waste time in protests and we will start now. I particularly want a diagnosis of the processes responsible for the automatic defense systems. We will begin with the ADX series.
- But that series is completely autonomous.- a young assistant protested- It does not even have an active interface with the system, besides none of us understand how it works.
- Exactly, nobody has payed attention to it for at least several millennia, still there is a strange chain of coincidences. Urd tried to log into the system looking information for it, and then, somehow a damage copy of it appeared on the earth at the Tarikihongan temple, where the Norns resided, all of this before the greatest catastrophe of our realm has known. It could be a coincidence, I do not know for sure, but now I am very curious to know what this series has been doing all this time.
Belldandy tried to control her emotions to be able to continue, with trembling hands she touched the man's forehead and began singing. She tried to get into his mind with a spell, while Lind was trying to understand what was happening.
As if reacting at her attempt, the figure tried to move. At that moment Belldandy put her hands on her head as if she had heard a thundering sound. With great effort she recovered and slowly said.
- He is awakening and is trying to regain control ...
Lind stood up and exclaimed with determination, while preparing for action.
- Then I will stop him, I do not care if he is really your father.
-No, wait! ... - Belldandy breathed deeply to regain control with a strange serenity said - You would destroy me too, he is now part of me. - Belldandy then hesitated, in that brief touch she had seen a blink of his mind, and was trying to gasp its implications- He has been part of my mind all these years, hiding deep inside me, waiting for the right moment to act and... - Belldandy lost control, fell into her knees and began to mourn, but this time her crying was not due to physical pain but by something much deeper, it was the pain of betrayal - ... waiting all these years to take control of my mind ...!
But he's your father ... - Lind asked in amazement -Why would he do that? And why would he take you into this madness? That makes no sense.
- I know, there is something else there, something evil, it´s...- - Belldandy closed her eyes trying to understand, then open them very slowly as an idea began to form. A fierce spark seemed to emanate from then, then she spoke with determination: - Lind, I'll need your powers and your strength again, I will demand again a proof of your friendship. I know you're risking your life staying here longer, but I need you.
- Belldandy !... I will obey your commands. My life is yours.
- He soon will wake up, you will hold him with all your strength and block his powers, but that ... that would cause me pain me too. He is part of me but that should not prevent you from fulfilling your duty. You must block all his powers as he will try to break free from you ... And if that is not possible, then you must destroy us!.
Lind nodded slowly, she was beginning to understand, she would fulfill her orders, even that order. Lind asked her in order to verify her suspicion.
- Then, this is really the madness, it did not just invade you, but him.
Belldandy nodded but did not reply, she bent and touched the face of the god, that same god that had given her life and the same face she had loved as a child. Memories flooded into her, she recalled the sacred words of the god, the loving word of the father and the wise words of an eternal. He had been all for her. Then she embraced him and asked:
- Father, why did you hide this? Why did you use me this way?, I owe you everything, but this is not the way, the way of deception and intrigue.
- Belldandy, what are you saying?
The man writhed and Belldandy shuddered trying to maintain control, she commanded: - Lind!. Do it now!
Lind straightened and forgetting any doubts she materialized her ax. With a flourish, she began to turn around as it were a beautiful dance, drawing a sphere with the blade, she whispered a spell of power and the sphere began to take solid form. Her goddess marks glowed, showing she was using her powers at maximum, she was creating a high level seal, a seal that only an elite Valkyrie could control, it was a very special seal, it was a prison created for upper gods, to control and subjugate them for interrogation.
Belldandy began to shudder as the man struggled to regain consciousness, she fought to kept him under control until Lind finished and then cried : - Do it!, NOW!
Then Lind dropped her ax, forcibly took the man from Belldandy's embrace and threw him into the magic sphere. While still unconscious the man tried to fight, the sphere shook fighting this power and for a moment seemed as if it were going to explode, but then began to downsize, closing in relentlessly and imprisoning the god, pinning him with a power that no god, not even this god could break. Belldandy cried in pain, she felt the prison on her own body, but she struggled to on her feet.
She looked at Lind while fighting the pain both the physical and spiritual pain, then told to Lind:
- Now I understood what he tried to accomplish. My father dreamed of uniting the three realms, Heaven, Hell and Earth under a single will. Have you ever wondered how it is that a god, even one as powerful as he, was allowed to have three daughters?.
Lind nodded and said:
- Very few gods are chosen to be parents, and only to cover the war casualties to keep our population stable. He was a powerful god, but that did not justify being three times a father. Especially when his first daughter was conceived with the most powerful enemy of our realm. No one understood why Kamisama allowed it, that those were his personal orders and nobody could argue.
-Yes, Kamisama was involved, he knew this all along. He knew the plan, and acted along with my father although I do not know why. On the death of my father he made everyone think it was just an old legend. Yes!, My sisters and I, are the Norns, we are part of an ambitious plan, but we never knew it. When I was born and he personally assigned my potential powers, he hid a fraction of himself in me and probably did the same to Urd and Skuld. That part would wake up at the appropriate time, to make us to come under his control, in order to fulfill the prophecy.
Er und þolli stendr;
Urð hétu eina, aðra Verðandi, Skuld ina þriðju;
þær lög lögðu, þær líf kuru alda börnum,
örlög seggja
Three from the dwelling down 'neath the tree;
Urth is one named, Verthandi the next and Skuld the third.
On the Yggdrasil, three laws will make,
and life allotted to gods, men and demons.
Belldandy stayed silent as she finally realized what was behind those words.
- But now I know it was not a prophecy, but a conspiracy. He would wake up and manipulate me to get more and more power, while pretending to be the perfect, the trusty, the purest of the goddess, in order to achieve his goals. That is why he refused to became Kamisama. He had more ambitious plans, he planned to control three universes, still I cannot understand why Kamisama agreed with that. But then something occurred, something unexpected.
Lind said slowly realized:
- The god you healed? The one who had the madness?
-Yes, I adsorbed his madness into me. It´s one of my powers. I had the capacity to absorb evil things and purify them, but he- Belldandy sobbed and with a shaking hand pointed to the god- He was hidden inside me trying to control me. Since I was designated as Kamisama I felt ideas and thoughts that were alien to me, and soon learned how to neutralize them. I could not imagine how powerful the being behind them was, a being that was willing to do anything to control me, so he searched my consciences and my memories, looking for a weakness, but instead he found something else...He was attracted to the evil that I had imprisoned into me to purify it, and when he got into it he became infected. Yes, the madness transformed his plan to force me to seek power was transformed into an obsession for power, and instead of controlling me, it poisoned my mind until I was unable to keep fighting against it.
Lind nodded, it was like a conspiracy within a conspiracy, but she was afraid that there was something more.
- But have trapped him, we can master him ...
Belldandy shook her head:
He is too powerful, you caught him by surprise, but he has learned and eventually he will manage to get control again. The madness made him even more powerful because he now has no limits, he would not hesitate to destroy everything using me and now I have the power to destroy our realm.
Lind understood. She knew what Belldandy was about to do, and could not help to think she would have been a magnificent Valkyrie, even greater and more powerful than her. Finally she asked, already knowing the answer.
- What will you do then?
There is only one way. - Belldandy's eyes filled with tears- The madness is mixed with him now at such a level that I can not separate them, I must dissolve his conscience, that would break his identity, his memories will be erased and I will purify them until only the madness remains, only until that I will be able to destroy it, and that means ... - Belldandy could not continue, but Lind already knew what she did not dare to say:
- It means that you must kill your father by yourself.
Keiichi entered his room with care, trying not to make noise so as not to wake his guest. He sat at his desk and turned on the monitor. Hesitated, then in complete silence opened the web browser and typed the URL of a very special website, the site where it all had begun. .hvn. Suddenly a deep and gentle voice interrupted him:
- Are you sure you want to use that option? Yggdrasil still appears to be unstable and could be dangerous.
Keiichi stopped, Galileo was right, it might be unwise to access Yggdrasil at this time, but maybe just this kind of recklessness could allow him to accomplish something more. His work at the plant was over, now it was only a matter of time, so he needed to do something. He could not help to think that still there was no answer to explain Giörel´s death, and there was not a clue about the identity of her killers. Maybe he could find something. Keiichi knew Galileo would do whatever he was ordered to do, but he felt he deserved respect and therefore he need to explain his reasons but was not sure where to start...
- Galileo, tell me, what do you remember before being downloaded to earth?.
- My memories are incomplete and unreliable, I have a set of contradictory information, it seem to be similar to what humans call emotions.
Keiichi smiled, despite its complexity even Galileo seemed to know very little about himself, but that was to be expected, after all, in a way he was just a few days old.
- Than means, you have emotions. But I already knew that. - as response, Galileo produced a sound that sounded so human it almost was comical, Keiichi nervously scratched his head, he had realized that it was very easy to identify his own sense of awkwardness with this recently born conscious. With a wide grin he said. - It´s not so bad to have emotion, once you learn to deal with them. Please try to tell me, what kind of emotion produces the idea to have communication with Yggdrasil.
Without any hesitation Galileo replied:
- Using what you call, psychological test, I must conclude that "feeling" is similar to what humans call fear. I want to do it, but I do not wish to do it, that is very confusing.
Keiichi smiled, he knew he was right, he needed to explain himself to Galileo, Trust was very important.
- Fear is not bad thing, but sometimes we must ignore our fears in order to move forward. In my experience in competitions, fear prevents you from doing silly things, but you must also learn to overcome the fear of being hurt or fail in order to win. Tell me, if I gave you access to all the resources of the CERN´s grid, could you recover your memory?.
- Negative, there are vital fragments missing and due to the high compression which is stored, it is impossible to recover them unless I gain access to my original code, maybe comparing the two would help to repair the damage sections and restore it. The humans at the Chiba are trying to help me.
- I spoke with Dr Izuka Kawazu and he told me the same. So I have realized there is only one option, to connect to the Yggdrasil system using a high-level account and try to get your original source. You told me you are a fork of a process that was running on Yggdrasil that was trying to store a protection copy on earth before being destroyed. Something inside Yggdrasil destroyed it. Using Belldandy's account I was able to learn many things about heaven. I haven't told anyone, since I have no proof, but I believe that Heaven and Hell face the same enemy, an enemy from forgotten times. I need to find the proof, and I believe it´s the same that is behind the destruction of your parent task. But I'm just a human and am afraid of finding something beyond comprehension, but I decided I need to overcome that fear. Galileo, I need your help. Now I understand why you have been avoiding the main channels when I have asked you to contact Heaven and Hell, you also have fear. Fear of that unknown enemy.
A calm voice replied.
- Yes, I have used always secondary systems, and now you are planning to get directly into the main system. But you will need an account with higher access that Belldandy-sama.
- Yes I know that- Keiichi smiled at the thought - But remember Belldandy is now Kamisama. I'm sure that now her account has unlimited access. But I need your guidance and help, if my fears are true, you will be risking your destruction. So this is something you must do on your own free will, not by an order.
- So, this is what humans call courage?.
Keiichi smiled at the word.
- I do not think I am brave, but this is something I must do.
There was barely a pause but there was certainly a change of tone.
-I understand now- there was a slight pause, then Galileo spoke with a ceremonious voice- Keiichi Morisato, of the Order of the Mortal Knights and High Judge of Heaven and Hell. I see you deserve those titles. I have decided on my free will. We will go together. You have showed me the way to fulfill my duty.
In the depths of the world of Hell, at the foundations of Hild´s palace there was a battle as had never been seen before. The magic and power that were being released could have destroyed much of that world it not were for the powerful and ancient magic that protected the place. The place had been created by the powerful ancient magic of past demons.
At one end of the giant cavern the goddess-demon Urd, had been transfigured into something that l looked like a being of light. Her demon and goddess marks shone with a fierce light that it was almost impossible to contemplate. Urd had used much of her magic to create a powerful shield, and used the rest to launch an initial attack. In case her Valkyrie uniform was not enough, she had started with a brute force attack. By now she was capable of controlling her power to a level that was far above any demon or god. Bolts of the purest white had knocked down hundreds of enemies. But Urd had learned. She knew she would not be able to defeat them all, and she needed to get more time, so she refrained from using all her power. Unfortunately her enemies also could learn. With knowledge accumulated trough eons of years of fighting they began to test her searching for a weakness.
Thousands of guard began an unrelenting attach on her, each one trying a different approach, probing her shield with distinct kinds of magic. Some were attack by brute force, others were sophisticated magic, tuned and focused only in small part of her shield. Urd had to adapt as fast as she could, changing her defense, and developing countermeasures. The spectacle was beyond imagination, she was floating in mid air, her body was incandescent with the continuous flow of energy to her shield. Her shield looked like a living thing, contorting and trembling under the attack. She was in a deep trance, it had been the only way to respond fast enough to the attack, one part of her mind controlled the shield, while the other explore her mind searching for every fragment of magic she had to use it. The intensity of the combined attack increased, she could feel how the elite guards were testing her. The attacks and counterattack was terrible yet beautiful sight, Hundreds of luminous magic fragments were engulfed in an electric grid that vaporize them and drew away a continuous stream of destruction that could reduce the most resilient material object to powder.
Anxiously Urd give herself the luxury of a glance to what was developing behind her. Even in her trance she could not help but fell awed. That pompous old demon was much more than it seemed. Wotan was deep inside his own trance invoking ancient and complex magic. But it was not raw power as Urd magic, but it was a kind of magic that was introduced into the fabric of space and time. A giant sigil was turning slowly around him and emanating unimaginable power, the magic symbols danced like living beings in a dance of breathtaking beauty. Layer after layer of magic was constructed multiplying the power of the previous one.
Urd realized that maybe He was as powerful as her mother, but that magic was much more complex than even she could handle. If that demon had wished probably he could have claimed for himself her mother's title, yet he had never sought power, instead he had dedicated to a scholar life. But there were more things to think about. While Urd could not understand some of the most complex instructions that Wotan was using, she realized that it would take still more time to close the trap.
Suddenly a sharp pain brought her back to the battle. An attack had managed to penetrate her shield, she looked at her arm as it began to turn gray and that began to spread. Her skin was turning into stone. Urd scream furiously and used a counter-spell to fight that magic. It was such an elemental spell that she had not expected that attack. Gradually her skin regained its color, but the pain continued, she could not give more time for healing, instead her face was transformed by a wild grin, she could use that pain to boost her power up to levels that were painful to sustain. The attack was redoubled when the guard noticed she had been reached. They had discovered that it was possible to find a weak point on her defense so there should be another.
As the attack increase Urd realize she was about to reach her limits, took a fast glance but Wotan had not finished. Urd tried to slow down her counter attacks, she began to control her anger. She would have to dispense her magic and power in order to gain more time. If she let he anger lose that would only consume her power more quickly. She needed a deeper trance for that, and started to sing one of Belldandy's spells to open her consciousness when suddenly everything became light. Amazed, Urd looked around and everything was gone. She floated in a limbo where nothing existed, then hear a voice that was eerily familiar.
- Urd, you are in danger, but you have a hidden power within you, I can feel the surrounding danger, I can feel the demons have turned against you. You must defeat the forces of Hell in order to take your rightful place, listen to me, give me your trust and I will give you more power than you have ever dreamed.
Urd exclaimed in surprise.
- Who or what are you?- She demanded. I don't know who you are, but I do not want to rule over Hell, I want to save it!. If you have power then give it to me, but I will not accept any conditions.
- Then you will be destroyed ...! - Sentenced the voice in a dispassionate tone
The limbo disappeared and Urd and once again was in the middle of the battle, but her distraction had taken its toll!
Suddenly in front of her appeared Bragg screaming- Look out princess!- And then he was wrapped in a blaze. Here distraction had made her lower her shield and Bragg had sacrificed himself as a shield to counter a sudden attack.
It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion, she watched as the fire engulfed Bragg, for a moment she could see pain reflected on his face, but at meeting her gaze he simply smiled before falling helplessly at her feet. Urd cried and tried to help him, but she was stopped by a new barrage of attacks. This time she could not avoid an anger that overpowered her will, the feeling was so painful and yet liberating. Urd felt as if a barrier had been broken and cried to the top of her voice an ancient and forbidden curse.
Everything around her seemed to explode as the curse developed into an overpowering counterattack, she saw as the first line of attackers felt under her power, and the rest retreated to prepare a new attack. Urd felt weak after such release of power, but tried to recover and began preparing to receive a new vicious attack when again she was recalled back into the limbo of her unconscious, she tried to fight until she realized this time she was not alone. In front of her was a figure, a young god with a dignified air that looked at her with kind eyes and Urd felt about to faint at the sight.
- Father! Are you really alive? Are you the one that is offering more power?
- My dear child, you must accept my guide and my will, in exchange I will give you power to defeat your enemies. Together we will control Hell ...
Urd was shaken at his words
- To control Hell? What is that nonsense? - Urd never had been close to her father, still the sense of betrayal was unbearable and asked angrily - Father, is that what you want? Have you been hiding inside me to use me?
The god looked at her, his kind eyes now showed the fire of barely concealed anger. But in that moment both were distracted at a new voice, a very familiar and angry voice.
- Finally you have come out of hiding ...!
Urd looked behind her and saw a young demoness ... She had no problem at identify her, it was the image of a Young Hild. Once on earth Hild had left an avatar, a child Hild a ten-thousandth of her power. But this avatar of a young demon meant that Hild had left within her a much larger fraction of her true power. The thought that both of her parents had been hidden inside her become intolerable to Urd. She now felt a double betray.! Furiously Urd confronted the avatars of her parents. Finally she understood.
- It´s a beautiful family reunion. So both of you were hidden inside me waiting to act and get control over me.
The young Hild looked at Urd with a sadness that she had never seen before on her mother.
- I do not want to control you, I always wished to protect you, so I hide this part of me, I suspected that your father would try to use you as soon as you went to Heaven. The spell that I put upon you was more than a loyalty spell or a block spell. That was when I decided to stay with you, I left part of my inside yourself to protect your if your father tried to manipulate you, and now he finally came out of hiding so I must act.
The young god spoke, and his voice long gone went deep into Urd's heart. His voice was calm, imposing and dignified.
- Do not listen to your mother, she only wants power for herself. I always dreamed that Hell and Heaven would rejoin into one under the guidance of the true gods.
At the words "true gods" a battle cry erupted in the place and the young Hild launched a magical trap against the god momentarily tying him. The serenity of his face now was replaced by anger and fought to liberate himself, Hild felled upon him and embrace him, then forced a wild kiss into his mouth, then spoke to him
- Finally I can neutralize you. Our daughter does not deserve this. I loved you, but you betrayed me and I would not allow that you betray your own daughter.- The turned to see Urd and said with passion - Urd, my dear daughter. I always wished the best for you. Soon you will know your true potential, neither your father nor me will have control over you again.
The god started to scream trying to get free but Hild forced again a kiss and both became a flame that began dissolving them. Finally they exploded into a wave of light and Urd was bathed in it. Urd received the power that had belonged to the avatars of her parents, that was her heritage. Urd felt she was now so powerful that it hurts, and had trouble breathing. Slowly she began to recover.
This time she voluntarily returned the limbo of her mind ready for battle. Fortunately her last counter attack had caused the temporary retreat of her enemies.
Even now, they did seem to be waiting to asses the situation, as if they suspected something had changed. Now Urd prepared for the battle. With a cold mind she evaluated the situation. Even with this new power she was not sure she could overcome the numbers of her enemies, but she knew something. No one would forget this battle.
Skuld walked along of the beautiful trails of her realm. There was still some frenetic activity all around, but it was much less pressing than before. At distance she saw a squad of young Valkyries sealing a screaming god, insanity was still infecting the gods, although the rate of infection had decreased. Skuld was reminded that the danger was not gone, and as she walked away from the attention of the gods from the control center, she began to remember Peorth's words: the system had never shown zero errors. Slowly her pride began to give way to reason. Peorth was right and she knew it.
Skuld thought of return, but her pride was still too strong. No, she could not return, but still she could enter the system from some terminal and finish the work on her own. With that in mind she was relieved, then felt a burning pain in her head. The gods who was around her looked frightened, they feared it could be the madness. Skuld fell to her knees, and cried trying to get help, but all gods around her fled in fear.
Slowly the pain went away, and Skuld could breathe normally again, she opened her eyes but could not see well, as if everything was now surrounded by a mist, and as the mist grew she could perceive a familiar figure beginning to take form. She watched him with wide eyes and exclaimed - Father! You're alive!
The voice spoke with a sad tone.
- Skuld my daughter, my life is in danger, I need your help,
- We must warn my sisters, is wonderful you are still alive. They will help you, we must seek them
- No Skuld, this should be only between you and me.
Giorgio heard a distant thunder and looked upon the sky. He smiled when he saw a small spot moving at high altitude. Apparently the news was spreading quickly and they had already sent a reconnaissance aircraft, but he doubted they could make better pictures that he had already sent. Nobody else would take away the pleasure of having the scoop.
His companion was still engrossed in his laptop, he kept sending a constant stream of photos and video because of the increasing requests for information. A smile lit up his face. The agency had promised them a substantive reward for this exclusive, and they had assured him that the material had been sent to the appropriate authorities. But he did not suspect those were not the authorities he believed.
Without further thoughts, Giorgio refocused his camera on the town. His companion had told him some names of the men that had been arriving. Some of them were leaders of various terrorist organizations. That kind of people would never leave their hidings if not for something really very important. He shuddered at the thought that the reason could be to put their hand on some kind of nuclear weapon. Hopefully the authorities would react quickly, but gulped at the thought of their course of action. The town was small but it must have at least a thousand people, representing more than a thousand hostages. Will they dare to put those lives in danger?
Then came to his ears the sound of a new vehicle. With curiosity he looked for the source, along the road came a jeep, but this was different. Instead of the battered vehicles he had seen, this looked like one of the most modern vehicles usually rented to tourists. He had a suspicion and a shiver went down his back. He grabbed his camera and pointed to the vehicle, he gave a cry of surprise. He saw a man wearing a formal suit, he seemed to be a Japanese, he was completely out-of-place in this situation, and a child was with him, he could not be more than 11 or 12 years old. The vehicle moved rapidly so Giorgio jumped out of his hiding, he did not mind being discovered, and started screaming, even knowing that the distance was too great to be heard. He still kept screaming as the car inexorably approached to the minefield.
End of Chapter XXX