Valkyrie Profile:

Lenneth Novelization AU:

Disclaimer: I do not own Valkyrie Profile or any other tri-Ace properties. Please support the official release.

Chapter Nineteen:

All One Can Do

"This is where we lost their trail, Milord. Unfortunately, the battle with the Dragontooth Warriors raged everywhere, possibly covering up whatever traces we might have still been able to find afterwards."

While the elf soldier continued his report, Thor looked around the area. There were mangled remains of elves and giant scattered draconian warrior bones everywhere. It had taken far too many elven lives to kill twelve demonic dragon warriors, including their captain, whose head rested in the grass near Thor's feet. The god of thunder was in his full plated bronze armor and winged helmet. He had left his red cape behind in case there was trouble, but Mjölnir hung from his belt.

"Three hours ago…" the god of thunder said.

He scratched his red beard as he considered how to canvass the scene with dark blue eyes just like his mother, Freya's.

"Milord?" the elven warrior asked.

"Do you know the name of the elf maiden who was taken, and which goddess she was soul branded to receive?" Thor inquired of the elf.

"'Twas a girl named Lianna, and that is the thing… she was not assigned to become the Vessel of any goddess. She was just a villager living near the river with her brother and his wife. Not even up for the consideration."

Thor whirled around to face the elf, taken off his guard by that answer.

"She was Unassigned?" the thunder god asked. He looked the scene of the fight over again, bewildered. "That complicates matters."

"Milord?" the elf warrior asked.

"If this Lianna had been soul-bonded to a goddess, we could just assume one of our enemies have singled out a specific Aesir or Vanir woman to rid themselves of in the very near future, and did away with her spare Vessel first to ensure she stayed gone once slain."

Then Thor glanced at the elf again as he angrily spoke, "I should not have to explain such a happening to you. The same thing happened to dear Baldur's spare Vessel shortly before that felon Rufus killed him in cold blood. The very same day, in fact. Now he is lost to us in the depths of Niflheim 'til Ragnarök."

"Of course, Milord," elf bowed low. "Forgive me for forcing you to recall such a personal tragedy."

Thor waved him off as he began walking around the edge of the battlefield.

"What human would dare intrude upon our stronghold upon Midgard?" he asked himself. "And how did he escape The Forest of Spirits without our notice?"

It frustrated Thor that he did not have the time to investigate this himself, not with Project Körmt and the war raging. None of his brothers had the time to take up this assignment, either, not even Vidar and Tyre. Those two were gods of the law and this violation of Divine Law would probably fall under their legalistic areas of expertise, but they were being drowned in work as well. That left one god who presided over law with time enough to handle this. Thor didn't like having to resort to this. He considered what to do, leaving the elf at attention beside him for a long time.

"Hmm… Very well," Thor decided. He took out a small, handheld mirror from a pouch on his belt and held it up to his face. "Forseti, I call upon you. Come to me. Magni, Modi, I call upon the both of you. Come to me."

The elf tilted his head to the side, wondering what Thor was up to. He didn't have long to ponder it, as Forseti and the Thorsons teleported to the scene a less than minute later.

Forseti looked around and grimaced. "Ghastly."

Modi looked on the scene, taking a spot by his father, looking almost a perfect younger, shorter replica of him, just with thicker red hair and dark leather armor.

Modi whistled. "Wow, someone sure had a party."

"What is wrong with you?" Magni disgustedly asked him. "These elves fought against a blight upon these hollowed grounds and even sacrificed their lives to do so."

"Indeed, there is nothing amusing about any of this," Thor sternly concurred.

Modi held up his hands defensively. "Steady on, father. Just tell us what happened, and what you need."

"Is that the tone you would take with me?" Thor loomed over Modi imposingly.

Modi backed away. Coughing, he looked away, mumbling an apology. Thor still looked displeased, but he hadn't the time to a proper reprimand.

"At least I can rely on Magni," he thought.

He regarded his blonde, taller, and older son, equal in physical strength and stature to himself. Magni went without shirt and armor above the waist to display his muscles and many war tattoos, but he wore proper boots and pants, which were adequately armored. His mighty battle-ax at in its holder hanging from his shoulders.

Regarding Forseti, beside his burly, bearded cousins, the Baldurson in his judge robes seemed almost a child, being much slighter in build and possessing the appearance a man who was barely an adult. His cleanshaven face and loose hanging long brown hair punctuated the contrast. There was much of his mother, Nanna, in his face.

"Did one of our enemies do this?" Forseti asked.

"'Tis unknown at the moment. Perhaps it is none of our known enemies at all," Thor answered. "A human has trespassed in the Forest of Spirits and abducted an elf maiden named Lianna, Nephew. Your other uncles and I have not to the time or resources to investigate this matter, ourselves. As such, I am leaving this to the three of you. Find the perpetrator and bring him to justice. The elves will be able to fill you in on the details before you begin."

"Sir, yes sir," Modi saluted half-seriously.

He promptly received a bop across the back of the head from his brother for it. Magni gave him another scowl before addressing their father.

"We will not disappoint you, father," Magni vowed.

Forseti bowed respectfully to Thor. "It will be done, Dear Uncle."

"Good. I must return to Valhalla to continue our war preparations. I will leave you to it," Thor said.

Before he left, he turned to Modi and jabbed a finger into his chest. "No mischief, no lazing about making your brother and cousin do all the work, no extra meal breaks, and there will be no calling on Thrud to cover for your assigned duties. Your sister is busy enough with her castle guard duties. Furthermore, do not even think of asking your mother to inquire of your grandparents to get you an easier assignment this time. They all already know to refuse you, and will promptly inform me you tried."

"I wouldn't think of it, father," Modi said with a face that betrayed his intentions.

Thor loomed over his younger son again.

"Do not test me, boy," the thunder god threatened. "'Twould be a small matter to ask father or mother to strip you of all your Divine strength and power, and set you to work on rebuilding the Körmt bridge until you have learned some respect."

Then, with the threat of menial labor instilled in Modi, Thor teleported away.

Magni nudged Forseti with his elbow. "Think that'll be enough to make him pull his weight?"

"You'd be a fool to put gold on that bet," Forseti answered.

The cousins exchanged a look, and then turned to the elven soldier.

"Oh, ah!" the elf awkwardly sputtered. "Mother always told me gambling was wrong!"

"Hm," Forseti responded. "Good man."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you two," Modi muttered.

He joined them and motioned to the elf soldier.

"Father says you can brief us?"

The elf cleared his throat and started from the top again.


"There she is. Oh, Nanami's all grown up," an elderly women cooed.

"She has. You can't hardly she's that tiny little thing the Suwas found on the road all those years ago," another one whispered.

"But can a fake Suwa really claim the sword?"

At the center of the ritual being performed, Nanami could not hear the old women gossiping. She sat on her knees in the middle of a low outdoor stage. The ritual was being performed in a large square-shaped manmade clearing at the edge of the city of Hai-Lan. It was bordered by a bright red fence. The residents of Hai-Lan had gathered to watch Nanami's initiation, and did so mostly in silence. There were two paths in and out of the clearing at opposite ends. One led to the back of the Suwa's Shinto temple a mere ten yards away. The other path headed west and was much longer. It went down to the beach and along the base of the seaside cliffs. At the end of this trek lied the entrance of the Dragoncastle Caverns nestled among the rocks with the shoreline just a few feet away.

Surrounding Nanami on the stage were four Shinto priests, one of which was her adoptive father, Taka. They danced in a circle around her, shaking the handheld bell-trees they held, making the little bells jingle as they went. The four Priests stood each in a cardinal direction, and rotated from spot to spot, clockwise, as a part of their dance. They moved like the waves of the ocean, rising and falling in fluid motions that did not stop, with each step leading without pause into the next. The priests often turned completely around and even walked backwards as they moved between cardinal directions in tandem. They wore their traditional robes, but also long-nosed crow tengu masks which completely covered their faces.

Nanami wore the new miko robes she and her adoptive mother wove out of the fabrics she bought three days before as well as a wooden mask of her own, but it did not have the likeness of a tengu. It bore the sickly brown maw of the ancient dragon from which the caves under the island got their namesake. Lying across the young woman's lap was a ritual staff made of sturdy wood topped with a metal finial in two sections, each containing three rings.

Beneath the mask, Nanami was jittery and sweating nervously, paying special attention to the rhythm of the bells.

"Third section. Step 2, 3… Step 2, 3, 4… Mother should be ringing the gong… now."

On cue, the echoing crash of the gong resonated throughout the outdoor ceremony grounds. Nanami took her staff in her right hand raised it up. In tandem with the next jingle from the priests' bells, she thumbed her staff against the ground, making the rings jingle as well. Then she stood and began dancing in place in the middle of the stage, first turning on her heels like a ballerina, spreading her arms out wide and standing as tall as she could. Without stopping, she pivoted again, dipping low and crossing her arms in front until her hands touched her shoulders. She rose and fell like the priests, gently waving her staff around, and making the rings jingle once every four times the bell trees did.

Unseen by all at the summit of a short cliff overlooking the ceremony, another onlooker watched the ceremony unfold. Their eyes were set squarely on Nanami dancing in the center.

"So graceful… so perfect…" the unknown watcher murmured hatefully. "How dare you. How dare you. How dare you How dare you How dare you Howdareyou! How dare you think you claim what is mine! Mine! Mine mine mine! You dirty imposter you, I'll fix you good! Just you wait when you try to enter the caves!"

Then the watcher vanished as though she had never been there. Then the ceremony finished, all were still ignorant of the vengeful, bitter watcher. Nanami stood at full height, raising her staff above her head and knocked the bottom against the stage floor, making the rings chime one last time. The first part of the ritual was done.

The locals put their hands together and bowed low. The audience members standing between the path to caves and Nanami's precession parted to allow them through. The priests gathered around Nanami. Two stood on either side in front of her, and two behind, forming a square around her. Then, they walked together in pace through the crowd of people. Nanami held the staff upright in front of her, not looking to either side, but keeping her gaze straight ahead. The priests did the same.

Within a few moments, they were walking the winding downhill path, at first with dense forest around them, but it soon began to give away to sand and sparser flora until they finally stepped onto the beach. They walked along the edge of the tree-line, staying as far up from the waves they could until they came to the narrow strip of sand which ran at the base of the cliffs. Now it was impossible to avoid getting their shoes and feet wet. Eyes straight ahead and bodies in perfect posture, none of them gave indication the sensation was displeasing. In some places, it was like a bog gobbling at their feet.

The path became very twisted at this point, zigzagging along the base of the cliffs wildly. When they rounded one final bend, the entrance of the underground cave system was finally in view, and Nanami felt her chest tighten. She swallowed a gulp that felt too big for her throat as shivers emanated from her shoulders and worked their way down to her toes. Any Yamato dweller knew to fear those caves, but today Nanami had to brave the one place only the most devout dared enter. It was said to be a sanctuary of evil and a dwelling place for demons. Truly a place where no angels dared to tread. With any luck, the shide banners which had been put up recently along the path to the sword's shrine would keep most monsters away long enough for Nanami to claim it.

The small precession stepped onto a flat, oval-shaped rock at the mouth of the cave. Nanami watched her stepfather and the elder priest step at the head of the precession, murmuring a prayer of protection. From the cave entrance, the watcher had Nanami dead center in her sights. The two priests were just raising the bell-trees to put Nanami under prayer cover.

The watcher saw her chance, and took it.

Nanami gasped as she felt and heard it. The air suddenly became cold despite the hot, tropical southern weather and a rattling croak came out from the cave. Something had pushed through the seals on the cave and was about to come out. She looked at her father and the elder priest at the mouth of the cave still.

"Father! Elder! Watch out!" she ran forward, waving her staff to combat the evil presence.

"Lady Nanami! Stop!" One of the priests behind her shouted.

Then something white flew out of the cave straight at her. Nanami felt the wind get knocked out of her as she was thrown onto her back by it. Hands grabbed her around the throat and completely cut off all air in her windtight. Nanami's eyes bulged as she found herself unable to breathe. She beheld wicked specter trying to strangle her, a snow-white figure in a robe with long white hair falling over its face. Nanami's eyes rolled up into her head as she started to pass out.

"DEMON BEGONE!"

Then the squeezing hands were suddenly gone and Nanami took in a big, wheezing breath before breaking into a coughing, choking fit between life-giving breaths. She twisted in pain on the ground, rolling herself onto her side unconsciously. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she tried to breath, but her throat still felt constricted. She wasn't even aware her stepfather had picked her up in his arms. When she finally opened her eyes again, she found herself looking out on the world with fuzzy vision, but she could still make out the man who raised her. His normally stern, tight features instead showed only worry.

"Nanami? Nanami," he called her gently.

"Yes, Pap…" but she broke into a round of whooping coughs just from the effort of trying to speak.

"Hold on, we're going to take you home. Don't speak. Just rest, little one," he said.

Then he looked up from her, barking a stern order to the other priests, "I want the entrance to those caves sealed. Nothing comes out again."

"But Lord Taka, but of the sword?"

"It will have to wait," Nanami's father answered him. "I want the seals on the cave entrance erected again within the hour. We must discover how that spirit got through and what's gotten them riled up."

Nanami weakly raised her arm, pointing at the cave.

"The… the sworrr…"

"No, Nanami," Taka shook his head. "Not yet. And not today."

"Lord Taka, what shall we tell the people? The holy barrier weakens. They wait for salvation," one of the other priests asked.

"The girl must rest," the elder priest declared. "Taka, take your daughter from here. We will handle the rest. Now go, and have her throat looked at by Doctor Kisaragi. She can try again another day after she is well, but not now."

"Yes, Lord Kato," Taka replied.

"No… No," Nanami continued to reach towards the cave.

"Nay, child," her father told her as bore her away.

It was too difficult for her to breathe yet for her to work up the strength to fight against him. The spirit may not have killed her, but it did its work well in preventing her from entering the natural underground caverns for that day, at least.

Nanami watched the cave entrance shrink into the distance, all the while feeling like the failure.

"No… I must continue Minayo's legacy," she thought desperately.

Within the cave, unseen by the priests who sealed it, the angry spirit looked as vengeful as ever.

"Tough luck, 'sister'. You'll never replace me. NEVER!"


Thump!

The vampire "Oof'd" as his body crashed into the hard cobblestone of the ruins. He rolled over onto his back and looked up to see Lenneth, that mouthy blonde mage, and the young archer approaching him. He tried to get up, but immediately, the big, scarred warrior and the knightly man were on him, pinning the Undead to the ground with their weapons.

"I'd stay still if I were you," Arngrim warned him. Although his face said he'd love it if the vampire tried to escape him.

"Yes, you are beaten, villain," Lawfer chimed in. "Now you face the judgment of Valhalla. Have you any confessions to make before Lady Valkyrie sends you on your way?"

The vampire glared at the knight with a look that said, "Oh, gag me with a spoon."

It had been four days since Nanami's unsuccessful attempt to enter the Dragoncastle Caverns, and Lawfer had now been with Lenneth's troop for a week. He'd fit in very well as Lenneth took them around Midgard, hunting for more einherjar and any sigh of Orlok and Beliza.

Not far off, Belenus was pulling his blade out of the last of the vampire's underlings. Now the elder vampire was alone and surrounded by his enemies. Belenus turned from his kill, approaching the rest of the group.

"That's the last of them, Lady Valkyrie," he reported. "Now there is only this one to deal with."

"You have done well, my einherjar," Lenneth said.

Jelanda puffed up with a self-satisfied grin. "You've come to expect any less from us?"

Llewelyn bit his lip to stay quiet.

"Arngrim, Lawfer, you did especially well for keeping this one alive for questioning," Lenneth told them.

"He sure as Hel didn't make that easy," Arngrim grumbled. He quickly looked over his shoulder at the vampire's sword, imbedded into the stone wall. It'd just missed going through his face a few moments before.

Lawfer grimaced slightly, noting that'd been a close shave.

"Now," Lenneth began to approach the downed Undead.

The vampire growled at her. "What do you even want, Odin's witch? If ye think…"

He was cut off when she was suddenly standing over him, stabbing her sword into the ground right next to his head. He stared up at her, bug-eyed, before his red orbs trailed over to her blade, was which just the slightest hair away from his face.

Lenneth, with dominance firmly established, leaned over him with a look of cold indifference.

"Whom among the ranks of the Greater Vampires do you serve?" she demanded.

"Stuff it, Death Chooser! As if ye don't know!" he shouted up at her.

Lenneth responded lightly cutting the vampire across the cheek, slowly, allowing the blessed steel of her sword to sting and burn against the Undead's flesh.

"Do you not know to whom you speak?" Lenneth threatened. "I am the Valkyrie, and with a thought, I decide where your soul goes. Cooperate with me, and I will give you reprieve of the reincarnation cycle. Make things difficult, and I will tip you so deep into the innermost circle of Helheim, even Niflheim's Queen herself will not know where to find you."

The vampire leaned away from her sword, so Lenneth pressed it to his other cheek, repeating the process of slowly cutting the fiend along the face, slowly and painfully, with a stare that pierced him. He felt naked on the ground at her feet as his body vibrated in pain. The einherjar watched Lenneth in shocked silence, having never seen this side of her before. Even Arngrim seemed surprised.

"Ugh! Enough!" the vampire begged.

Lenneth lifted the blade from his face, and pressed to his nose just enough for it to be felt.

"Make your choice," she commanded.

"I-I serve Lady Genevieve," he confessed. "You didn't know that?"

"The ancient Undead witch?" Lenneth seemed unsure she'd heard him right.

The vampire stared back up, and started to grin. "You really didn't know? Ha! And here I'd assumed you were here because you sensed the seal on the Celestial Castle coming undone or that Rán or Njord felt it rise from the bottom of the sea. You should know better than I where my mistress dwells. Besides, no one goes to see my mistress. She comes to us."

"Ancient Undead witch?" Lawfer asked Lenneth.

The other einherjar also turned toward Lenneth, uncertain of what to make of this revelation. Lawfer and Arngrim did not remove the tips of their weapons from the pinned Undead, though.

Llewelyn leaned closer to Jelanda. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Tch! They're like hydras. No matter how many we defeat. More appear," the ex-princess glumly replied.

Lenneth seemed uncertain as well. She looked at Arngrim and Lawfer in the eye briefly before meeting the vampire's gaze again.

"What nonsense is this?" Lenneth demanded. "I have never sealed anything within the sea. So, you do not serve Lady Beliza or Count Orlok, then?"

The vampire burst out laughing, letting his head fall plat on the ground. "Brahms's little upstarts? Please! I would never degrade myself by serving one of his lot! Or him."

Lenneth was at a loss of say to that. Around her, the einherjar were looking among themselves only to find the others were just as bewildered. The vampire looked up at all of them, as it dawned on him that they really didn't know.

"So not all of the Undead are pledge allegiance to Brahms?" Belenus asked.

The pinned Undead looked at him, half disbelieving of his ignorance, and half tickled pink by it.

"How can you know so little about what is going on here on Midgard?" he asked while letting out a gasping laugh. "What can Odin be thinking by having you all briefed so poorly?"

Lenneth suddenly felt very self-conscious in the presence of her einherjar, but there was no noticeable change in her outward demeanor. She was thankful for the fact Belenus had beaten her to asking that last question.

"So, Genevieve has returned," Lenneth played off how disquieted she felt with indifference. "I thank you for bringing it to my attention. Her return is duly noted."

The vampire scowled at that patronizing statement.

"At the moment, I am not searching for her," Lenneth said. "Lady Beliza and Count Orlok still take priority. Test me by lying and you will find my offer and my threat both most sincere."

"I believe you, but I've not the faintest where bloody Beliza is right now," the vampire answered defiantly. "Last I heard, she went into the Liellahan Lowlands not too long ago. No one knows for sure why, though there were rumors of a dwarf dwelling there. Some say 'twas Albrecht, himself."

"The sealed dwarf?" Lenneth internally exclaimed. "Bu-but how? His failed coup against King Balin got him imprisoned at the base of Yggdrasil for all time by Lord Odin, himself."

"Fine," Lenneth seemed coolly uninterested. "And Orlok?"

The vampire shrugged. "If the energy I felt coming out of Artolia a week ago is anything to go on, you'd know more about that than I. You might try Brahms's Castle if the little coward ran away again."

"So, all you can tell me where they were previously?" Lenneth demanded.

"Ye…" before the vampire could utter the 's', the Valkyrie had plunged her sword through his chest.

Then she swiftly turned away, not even bothering to watch him turn to dust. Her einherjar watched Lenneth walk past them all silently before she paused by the halfway collapsed archway which was the exit.

"Genevieve's return… Multiple factions of Undead… Why was I not informed? How did I not know to begin with?" she asked herself.

"Lady Valkyrie?" Belenus asked.

She turned to her einherjar, seeming as calm as ever.

"I am considering our options," she told them.

"We do suddenly have a few, don't we?" Belenus concurred. "We could investigate the Liellahan Lowlands to see if there are any clues left behind."

"Isn't that place really dangerous?" Llewelyn asked. "We could also keep searching Undead hives along the Artolian mountains to see if we can't make someone talk."

"Maybe we should go search for Genevieve first?" Jelanda suggested. "If she can break a goddess's seal and make a whole city come up from the bottom of the ocean, she might be the really dangerous one."

"I wouldn't mind testing my mettle against Brahms," Arngrim hungrily added. He rotated his sword arm to loosen it back up. "I could use the challenge."

Jelanda, Belenus, and Llewelyn gave him unbelieving looks. Lawfer was just numb to his friend's antics by now.

"What?" the scarred mercenary demanded. "It sounds fun."

Llewelyn turned to Lawfer. "Six years of professionally working with him? How'd you survive this long?"

"You get used to it," Lawfer flatly answered.

"'Used to it'? I'm a joy to be around!" Arngrim let out a hearty laugh.

Lenneth loudly cleared her throat, which got their attention.

"For the moment, we will ascend to the skies, and I will meditate," the Valkyrie announced. "The Threads of Fate will guide us to where we need to go right now. Come, my einherjar."

It did not take them long to leave. The ruins were small and easy to navigate. Within minutes, they were outside and Lenneth took to the air, bringing them all along. As soon as they were overlooking most of the mainland from above the clouds, Lenneth stopped. As she had done many times before, she closed her eyes and opened herself to the Threads of Fate as her meditation began.

"Oh, something already?" Lenneth felt the pull of a chosen soul calling.

She followed the call through the spirit's string of fate, and soon her ears were filled with the voices and sounds of her next recruit's final hours. The first thing she heard was a metal clanking, like chains being dragged over a hard surface.

"Oh, wise Njord, please grant me strength," said the voice of a young woman. Then she spoke again, but much louder and emphatically. "I thought my anger and sadness were greater than anyone else's."

Lenneth heard a sound which could have been the roar of the ocean, or a great beast.

"Minayo?" the young woman called, sounding fearful and uncertain.

"…Minayo?" she repeated in a frantic, quivering voice.

There was a thumping then, which could have been footsteps or a hammer pounding.

The young woman pled desperately, "What can one do when one has lost what matters most? This is all I can do!"

Before the vision ended, Lenneth saw a cave, and knew immediately which one it was. Then all went silent as Lenneth's mind and senses returned to the present.

The Valkyrie floated still in the air a moment ruminating on what she had heard and felt in this latest meditation, "A fearful girl full of indecision, but driven by an underlying strength. She is burdened by the expectations of others and even her own. She fears being unable to meet them above all else."

She glanced towards her crew.

"Another joins us soon. To the land of Yamato we go, my einherjar."


The last four days had been a painful, tedious time for Nanami. Forced to rest so her throat and voice could heal, she had been confined to the temple and barred from doing anything too extraneous which might aggravate her throat injury. Thankfully, the priests had rescued her in time.

"She will recover, fully," the doctor had said.

"Oh, thank the gods!" Nanami's adoptive mother was overjoyed. "What must we do for our Nanami, Doctor?"

"She will need three or four days to rest and heal. Perhaps five. I will come and make a house call to check on her the day after tomorrow and on the fourth day to ensure she is healing. Give her this herbal mixture in her tea and this Ryukakusan powder. She must take it with water. Both will help soothe and heal her throat. She should speak sparingly for at least the next day. That throat must rest, too," the doctor had ordered.

The doctor had left from his second house call an hour earlier after giving Nanami a clean bill of health and the go-ahead to return to her duties as a miko. As such, Nanami had donned her miko attire again, straightening up the white robe and red hakama after getting dressed. She looked at herself in the mirror of the women's dressing room she had shared with her mother and deceased sister all her life. Everything was in place. Beside her atop a nearby chest of drawers was a neat pile of paper wards and charms with warding scriptures scribed upon them. The ritual staff she was to take with her into the Dragoncastle Caverns leaned against the wall beside the mirror.

"Alright," she told herself. "Time to head back. I must…"

She gulped anxiously, remembering the evil spirit which had tried to kill her. As her mind raced with fear, insecurities of all manner began to seep in.

"You shouldn't have attempted the ritual with that counterfeit Suwa, your old fools. 'Tis no wonder an evil spirit was able to attack her," she remembered the harsh reprimand her parents had received when Taka carried her back from the caves.

"That girl is no Minayo. A very poor substitute," she'd once heard another murmur.

"Taking in the daughter of a Higurashi when they have their own girl already. What can they be thinking?"

"Stop it," Nanami tried to bury the voices and doubts. "I'm Nanami. I'm not just a replacement for Minayo. I can do this. I am a true Suwa, through and through."

She tried to block out the cruel voices and instead focused on the task at hand.

"I must enter the caves and finish the ceremony," her voice was weak, not from the injury, but fear.

She fought the urge to begin hyperventilating, but with her heart raising, it was hard to control her breathing. She took several deep, calming breaths as she uttered several memorized prayers to herself.

"The gods protect and preserve us; thus, no evil can assail us. The gods protect and preserve us; thus, no evil can assail us. The gods protec…"

"Enough!" she scolded herself, smacking her cheeks with her palms.

With the slight shock recentering her, Nanami looked at her reflection sternly, putting her hands on her hips.

"Nanami, you are being ridiculous. You were trained to deal with evil spirits, and you're going to let the first one you encounter scare off? What would mother and father think?" she pointed her finger at her own reflection as one would while scolding a child.

"Are you going to let the whole island be overrun with demons just because one attacked you?" she continued her self-criticism. "You told yourself it was enough that you're mother and father's daughter in spirit to claim the Dragonbane sword. Are you going to back down now, after just one setback? Well, are you?"

She grabbed the mirror by the frame on both sides and leaned in an inch from the mirror. After a moment of having a staring contest with herself, she began to realize how silly this whole thing was. She sighed and leaned her forehead against the mirror's surface.

"What am I doing? I must be going mad," she moaned.

There was then a knock at the sliding door.

"Nanami?" it was her adoptive father.

"Come in, Papa. I've just finished dressing," Nanami answered.

She watched the gray paper paneling slide to the right in its frame, revealing Taka. His features betrayed his worry as he stepped in, dressed in in a blue kimono with a rust-colored sash tying it shut. His long brown hair was now tied back in a ponytail instead of being hidden under his priest's hat from the ceremony days before.

"Nanami, the doctor spoke with me on his way out. He said you've recovered," he sounded hopeful.

"Yes, Papa," Nanami smiled at him. "Fit as Cousin Hibiki's donkey."

Then she turned away, feeling ashamed of something. "But you shouldn't waste your concern on me, father. I'm unworthy of your worry."

That last comment dug at Taka's heart. It wounded him to hear such talk from a girl he loved as dearly as his own deceased daughter by blood.

"You mustn't say such things," Taka told her. "Worthy, unworthy, it matters not to me. I worry because I am your father."

Nanami fidgeted, playing with one of her sidelocks. Her lips trembled as she tried not to cry out of shame.

She turned to him with misty eyes. "But Papa, I failed!"

"Failed?" Taka asked. He shook his head. "No, young one, what happened was unprecedented. We still don't know how the spirit managed to undo the seals on the cave entrance. If anything, my daughter, I should be asking you for forgiveness for not renewing the seals once more before we let you venture down."

"But the sword still waits down in the shrine. The people of Hai-Lan must be so scared right now," Nanami guiltily replied.

"It cannot be helped," Taka assured her. "In any case, I am glad you are well. But please, take it easy for today…"

"But I cannot," Nanami asserted. After realizing she'd just interrupted him, she flushed, hiding her face behind a baggy sleeve. "F-forgive my interruption, Papa, but I must go down to the shrine to finish the initiation ceremony. It is my duty, my destiny to inherit the sword and wield its power."

Taka was very hesitant to let her, and she could see it on his face.

"Worry not!" Nanami grabbed the sutras and other wards off the chest of drawers, and held them up. "I've meditated, restored my magic energy to its peak, and prepared all of these. I will be well-protected and able to combat anything this attacks me down there."

She looked at the blessed paper wards resolutely. "That evil spirit will not be catching me off-guard this time. I'm ready to do this, Papa."

Taka was still at war with himself over whether to let her go down yet or not. Nanami saw this and made another appeal.

"Papa, you've heard the reports," she said. "We were both there to repair the holy barrier when those demons broke through and killed all those farmers. The barrier must be reinforced if it is to hold with the monsters outside becoming so much more aggressive and greater in number."

"All very true, my dear," Taka said. "But at this juncture, I think I would like to call on my cousins from the Northern capital. They are of Suwa blood as well."

"The Northern capital? Papa, the Northern clans are at war with Hai-Lan. You'd never get a message through. Besides, they have not been trained for this duty. That sect of the Suwa clan left the temple practices when your father was young," Nanami protested. "There is no way they would be able to complete their training before the barrier fell."

Taka thought about it, and he knew deep down she was correct. "…They would be even less able to defend themselves against that spirit than you."

Nanami pushed again. "If I don't try for the sword again, Papa, our only other option will be to evacuate everyone to the mainland. Where would we go? Who could take us in? Gerabellum? Lassen? Those places sell our people in their markets."

Taka finally relented with a sigh. "You are right, of course. If faults are beginning to form in the barrier, it will not be long before it folds entirely. The beasts from the wilds will be able to overrun us."

"Does that mean I have your blessing to finish the ritual, Papa?" Nanami asked hopefully.

He nodded. "Come here, girl."

Nanami approached her father, and stopped to give him a respectful bow before he gave her his leave. She was surprised when he suddenly hugged her. Nanami gave a surprised yelp in his embrace.

"Papa?" she asked, looking up at her questioningly.

"You have truly been a blessing on this house, and this family, as much as Minayo," he said.

"Oh, Papa," the emotion gushed out of her as she returned the embrace.

Taka glanced first down at her, and saw the cave entrance in his mind's eye. "Be careful down there, young one. There is no trick those things of the dark will not use to gain advantage over you."

"I will, Papa. You've trained me well."

"I should hope so. I would hate to think all those hours spend making you girls study were wasted," he said with a smile.

Then both father and daughter a short laugh.


"Remember to pray to Njord, our island's patron god, before you leave."

"I will, Papa."

Nanami did so at the offering box as instructed. "Oh, wise Njord, please grant me strength. For the sake of my parents, who raised me, and for the sake of this island, which birthed all who came before me, I wish to prove myself worthy of a power which rightfully belongs to the sister I loved, who was taken by illness."

Then as she left, Taka watched from a nearby window as Nanami took the rear path off the temple grounds. She walked past the outdoor ceremony stage where they had performed the first half of the initiation ritual. She had taken the ritual staff, paper charms, and an oil lamp with her. With her gone from view, Taka was left staring out into the woods morosely.

He had kept this to himself, but he had overheard Nanami talking to herself. One thing that had stuck out to him was when she reassured herself, she was no mere replacement for Minayo.

"Perhaps I should have said something," he thought.

The door slid open behind him, and he knew his wife had entered the room. A woman with a pink kimono tied with a blue sash stood in the door. She was considerably taller than their childlike adopted daughter, and there would be no mistaking them for being blood related. Nanami's mother had much lighter-colored brown hair and eyes, a narrower face, and smaller eyes.

"Honey, I can't find Nanami anywhere. Did she go already?" she asked.

Taka turned to face her, and his expression said everything.

"Yes, Eri…" came his heavy reply.

"Why did you let her go?" Eri pressed her knuckles against her chin in worry. "Surely you have not forgotten what happened already?"

Taka turned to the side, walking away from her. "We have no choice. This island needs her to complete the ritual, or else we are all doomed. A thousand, maybe ten thousand other families' daughters will also die if she does not brave the caverns again. Along with their fathers, mothers, and brothers."

"But disaster will come down on her head again!" Eri protested, nearly in tears. "I knew it was foolish to try, but the incident at the cave entrance proves a girl not of our blood cannot hope to wield the Dragonbane. Njord himself gifted our family that sword and bound it to your bloodline forever."

"She may not be our daughter in blood," Taka said. "But she is our daughter, all the same."

"That will not be enough to meet the conditions set by Lord Njord so long ago," Eri said. "It's…"

She wiped away tears which now fell. "It's just too cruel."

"With… with Minayo gone, we have no choice," Taka stated. "All our hopes rest of that girl's shoulders now."


"The ritual requires me to be of Suwa blood to petition Njord for use of the sword and its power," Nanami's thoughts went through the steps of the ritual as she stood before the cave entrance, alone this time.

She could already feel the evil within the cave systems, and unfriendly eyes watching her from the pitch-black inside. So, she set the oil lamp down in the sand and stepped away from it in preparation for a fight. In one hand, Nanami held her ritual staff. In the other, a paper charm with a spirit-rebelling scripture scribed on it. The rest of her ofuda were stuffed into her sash, arranged in a rough order she wanted to draw them out in.

Nanami's eyes moved all around, and she constantly checked behind her. She felt the same evil that had attacked her before, and it was nearby. She could almost feel the hands around her neck again, and struggled to remain calm. Her body involuntarily shivered. The truth was, she was afraid. Deathly so. Every instinct and inclination told her to run, to flee. And she nearly did, until she remembered why she was here. She suddenly recalled the destroyed farms, and the piles of bodies from the demon incident. If she failed, that'd be every homestead and town across Yamato.

That thought ignited a fire which blazed up from her core and the shivering stopped. She didn't even shake when the hot air turned cold again. Nanami knew her foe had come for her. She looked around on high alert.

"I can feel you, Devil," she murmured under her breath. She clutched the ofuda between his pointer and index fingers, holding it up in front of her face. "C-come on out."

Then, from behind a large rock along the coastline, a head of long pure white hair which fell over the specter's face popped up. Nanami turned to face her ghostly opponent as deathly pale hands reached up, gripping the top of the rock. The angry spirit pulled itself up and stood on all fours atop the hard, slippery surface. A rattling croak Nanami remembered all too well came out from behind all that hair, and echoed all around her, sounding like a thousand angry spirits, but the miko did not turn to look around. She knew there was but one, here in front of her.

Nanami raised her ritual staff, and thumped it against the sound, making the rings in the hoops chime. That was enough to provoke the angry spirit, which then let out a noise that could have been a roar or a hoarse scream. It took to the air, flying high above Nanami before sharply turning and diving right at her.

"Akuryo Taisen!" Nanami chanted as she thrust the paper charm straight up.

It burst into flame-like light, which instantly expanded into a barrier of pure light in the same instant the angry spirit reached her. The fiend screamed and was thrown to the ground at Nanami's feet. The young miko held up her staff protectively with one hand while she kept the other raised in front of her face.

Nanami chanted quickly, "Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!"

The spirit rose up on all fours and turned towards her again, giving her a choking growl. It took one skittering step towards her and Nanami shook her staff, making the rings chime again. The revenant tried to pounce, but an ethereal string wrapped around itself around the fiend's wrist, jerking it back from its target. Then more strings appeared, binding the accursed ghost around its other arm and legs five bound its body, holding it in place.

Spurred on by her success in the battle so far, Nanami trained her staff on the fleeing revenant.

"I did it," she almost didn't believe it. "I've bound the spirit. Now I can…"

The revenant made several motions with its hands while uttering a few familiar words. To Nanami's shock, the strings vanished, and the angry ghost floated away. Nanami almost forgot her situation as she watched her opponent flee into the rocks, presumably to enter the caves.

"That was an unshackling prayer," Nanami gasped. "But how did it…?"

She regarded the cave entrance again, remembering how the angry spirit had gotten through the seals four days ago to assault her.

"That ghost… was temple trained in life?" she uttered in disbelief.

She knew the spirit lied somewhere inside, waiting for her. It'd attack her again, and yet she had to press on. Nanami quickly retrieved the oil lamp from the ground and headed inside the cave. She passed through the barrier as it only kept evil things at bay and found herself on a tall plateau just inside. There was still plenty of sunlight streaming in through the entrance, and it stretched out far enough for Nanami to see the edges of the natural platform just inside. At the other end were manmade stairs leading down, deeper into the cave system, and it was there the light ended.

Nanami stopped at the top and saw for herself how quickly the dark took hold just a few steps down. So, she set the oil lamp down again and took out a tinderbox from her sash. After a few tries with the steel and flint, the lamp was lit, and she was on her way down.

As she went, Nanami noticed the shide, zigzag-shaped paper streamers, hanging from the ceiling in regular intervals to bless the path to the Dragonbane.

"Good. They're still here," she thought.

They kept the air from being too encroached with evil energies, and did their work well enough that most of the undead and demonic things in the lower caverns rarely came up so long as the shide were there. Besides which, they had their own means of getting in and out of the caves. Being a series of tunnels under the island, there were actually many entrances and exits, but the one Nanami used exited out on the human side of the barrier near Hai-Lan, which is why it was kept sealed by the Suwas and other local Shinto practitioners.

Nanami reached the bottom of the steps, and was now fully surrounded by darkness. She could not even see the walls of the cave at her sides. As far as her eyes were concerned, the blackness surrounding her could have gone on forever. And anything could be waiting for her beyond her little canopy of light. She tried not to think too much about that while keeping her senses on alert.

"Alright, Nanami, you have the way memorized. Let's run through it again," the young shrine maiden talked to herself to keep the fear away. "The path is straight, no twists or turns until you get to the ladder."

Nanami was relieved to find her father's directions were accurate when she reached the ladder which led deeper down. It stuck out of the top of a big hole in the floor and was set into the stone wall of the cave. Nanami peered over the side of the pit but could not see the bottom.

"From here, I just go straight to the bottom," she told herself. "Another passage will be down there and it'll take me straight to the underground shrine, where I can retrieve the Dragonbane."

Then she shuddered as another thought occurred to her. "Likely along with the angry spirit again…"

Nanami looked at the lamp and staff she held, and then at the ladder. Her face fell as she quickly realized she was going to have a difficult descent, and even worse return climb with the sword further encumbering her.

"Oh, dear," she mumbled.

Thus began an awkward and precarious climb, with the ritual staff stuffed under one arm and one of her wrists through the handle of the lamp. She climbed down slowly and carefully, trying to not drop anything or burn herself with the lamp. All the while, she was aware of what a hazardous position she was in. She'd have been a perfect target for the spirit which wished to kill her.

"They couldn't have… built the shrine up there?" Nanami whined around halfway down.

Then as she passed a spot to get off the ladder in a higher part of the cave, she added, "Or here?"

When she finally set down on solid ground again, Nanami was exhausted and panting. She set the staff and lamp down as she leaned against a wall to catch her breath. She took a handkerchief out from within her robe and dabbed at her sweaty forehead and face with it.

"Hoo! I am not looking forward to the climb back up," she thought.

Even as she rested, she remained alert. Much to her pleasant surprise, nothing tried to attack her in the dark while she was weakened and vulnerable. After her breathing slowed and the muscle pains in her arms and legs lessened, she gathered her things and pressed on. The way ahead was relatively level for a while, and the tunnel a lot narrower. It comforted Nanami being able to see the walls at her sides as she went. Anything was better than seemingly being a lone beacon in a void like it was in the entry cavern.

Left with only the sound of her footsteps echoing off the walls for company, Nanami's mind began to wonder.

"Is blood really that important? What can one do when one loses what matters most?" she wondered. "But I won't fail. I will inherit their power, and prove there is something more important."

She continued her musings even when the road dipped into a slope, and she had to tread carefully and slowly until she reached the bottom. After that, the way leveled out again for the final stretch of walking. It was at this point Nanami started to become paranoid.

Dun! Something echoed that could have been a pebble dropping into a pool elsewhere in the tunnels or a warning of an attack from an indiscernible direction. Nanami stopped dead and held up her lamp, slowly sweeping it around in a complete arc, but saw nothing. Even after she lowered it again, she looked back and forth nervously, trying to spot any sign of movement.

"I don't like this. That spirit's taking its time getting its revenge on me. I'm almost to the shrine if I remember the directions right," she thought.

She calmed herself, and said aloud, "Just keeping going, Nanami. You can do this."

She forced legs which felt like stiff iron slabs to move. Now that she was near to her destination, she felt all her fears and doubts well up and her body reacted with an unwillingness to move she had to mentally power through.

She went a little further and came upon something manmade again. It was the bottom step of a low stairwell. Realizing she'd reached the shrine, Nanami quickened pace until she could see the vague outline of the holy place in the lamp's light. At the top of a short staircase above, something reflected the lamp's light.

"Is that… the Dragonbane sword?" Nanami mumbled.

She held her light source up higher, getting a somewhat better view of the shrine. On a small platform above her, the sword rested on an ornate sword stand which stood at about waist height. At the back of the stage was a small torii gate leading into the enclosure of the shrine. Another shide hung over the sword. The shrine itself was only one room, little bigger than a tool shed, and certainly not a place where many gathered to worship.

"Ah!" Nanami's face lit up. "It is the Sacred Sword!"

She had to stop herself from running up the steps and grabbing it. Nanami took a breath and set the lamp down again. Then she sat on her knees, and raised one hand with the fingers extended out straight in prayer. She began reciting the ancient invocation every priest and miko of the Suwa clan before her had when they reached the shrine.

"…may this unworthy mortal be deemed adequate of the honor of ascending these steps and receiving the blessing of the Dragonbane sword," she finished the prayer. "In accordance with the pact forged between wise and crafty Njord and the Suwa clan, I hereby appeal to you, King of the Vanir. I do not claim ownership of this blade, but simply petition permitted use of it. I offer my service and flesh in exchange. Thusly, on the day of my child's birth, my tenor wielding Dragon's Bane ends, and I will return this holy relic to this place, where its true master designated it rest. I will in turn be supplanted by a child of my flesh and blood, and they will serve you in my place and venture down here in turn one day."

Then she bowed before the shrine. When she rose again, it was the moment of truth. Had Njord accepted her?

Nanami mustered herself, and took that first step. She was stopped immediately, walking right into what felt like a solid wall. The girl let out a breathless cry as she fell backwards onto her rump.

"Wha…?" Nanami looked straight ahead of her, but saw only the shrine in front of her. "There… There's no wall barring the way. What happened?"

She got back up to her feet, dusting off and straightening her robes as she did. Her heart started to sink as a notion of what had happened wormed its way into her mind.

"Oh, Great Njord, please do not reject my petition simply because I am not Suwa by blood," she quietly begged.

She tried to approach the shrine again, reaching ahead with one arm. At the threshold of the shrine, her palm touched an invisible wall. Nanami gasped so loudly, it sounded more like a soft scream. She pushed both hands against the invisible obstruction and pounded her little fists against it.

"No! This cannot be!" her voice was desperate and shrill.

Tears formed in her eyes, and she raised her head, calling to the heavens for permission to pass.

"Lord Njord, I beg of thee. I have my father's blessing to complete this ritual. I may not be Suwa in blood, but I am in every way that's ever meant something to the people around me! So, please, do not let Hai-Lan and all of Yamato be doomed on a technicality. You are wise and have lived long. You were ancient already when Odin and your elder child Freya were born. You know there are things far more important than blood. So please… permit me use of the Dragonbane. Let me save my people."

But there was no answer. It did nothing. The way remained barred to her, a Higurashi girl adopted by the Suwas.

"I must try again," came a frenzied thought.

"Wise and Crafty Njord, please, hear my appeal! The blood daughter of the Suwas has perished. I am all that remains! Please, gentle lord! Monsters encroach on us by land and sea!" she hollered upwards in the most respectful tone she could. "Just this once, Milord Njord! Please, just this once!"

The wall remained standing. Frustration and despair tor at Nanami's mind and heart. A cry that was almost an infuriated roar burst form her lips as Nanami hurled herself shoulder first at the invisible force keeping her out. All she managed to do was hurt herself and bounce off it, crashing into a heap on the cave floor again.

Nanami curled up on the floor, clutching her throbbing right shoulder which seemed to scream in pain at her. The girl looked up at the sword on the stand as heartbroken tears went streaming from her eyes, wetting her cheeks and even her lips. It was so close she could have reached it in a few steps, but it was not to be.

Nanami crawled on her hands and knees to the threshold and pressed her hand to the barrier one more time. It was still there, as she expected. Yet the confirmation of its remaining presence was enough to break her. Nanami leaned her forehead against the barrier, and gave it one final weak punch with her small fist.

"Can blood… really be that important?" she asked. "I am no true Suwa after all…"

She dropped onto her side, curled up into a tight ball and began sobbing uncontrollable on the cave floor. Caring not for dignity, she bawled so loudly, it could be heard throughout the cave systems. Nanami didn't know or care how long she just lied there, weeping under her eyes were red. How was she ever going to tell everyone that Hai-Lan was doomed, just because Minayo was gone?

Then a light shined in the cave, which she saw through her eyelids.

"Huh?" Nanami bolted up to sit on her side.

Looking ahead, she saw her shadow cast upon the natural cave wall by a light white. She rolled over onto her other side to find the source. When she did, Nanami saw the evil spirit from before standing over her. Nanami screamed and made a grab for her staff, but the spirit grabbed her wrist in a vicelike grip.

"Ah!" Nanami cried out as the revenant's fingers tightened and began to hurt while dragged her away. "You're hurting me!"

Then the spirit threw the girl in the direction she had come from with ease. In a panic, Nanami reached for the paper charms in her sash, but the spirit leapt on her and pinned her down while gripping both wrists this time. Nanami struggled under her attacker, but the spirit was too strong. It forced Nanami's arms to her sides and then sat on her, now keeping her arms pinned at her sides with its body and legs.

Nanami took heavy, shaky breaths as she stared up at the evil spirit in fear. She'd gotten careless in her grief and this thing was going to kill her. Much to her surprise, instead of reaching for her neck, the angry ghost swept its hair back, at last revealing her face to her victim. Nanami stared up, slack-jawed and unable to speak.

"Mine…" Minayo growled at Nanami, and leaned in, grabbing the other girl by the shoulders so hard it hurt. "Mine. Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine!"

"Minayo?" Nanami weakly whimpered. "Is that really you?"

Indeed, it was her deceased sister. Even as an angry spirit with all color drained from her body, Nanami would know the face of the girl she shared a bedroom with for as long as she could remember, up 'til the day Minayo died.

"Minayo? Why?" Nanami brokenly asked. "We're sisters. What hatred has kept you here to become this vengeful revenant instead of passing on? Please, sister, tell me what keeps you here?"

Instead of answering, Minayo screamed "Mine!" one final time and reached into Nanami's chest. Her hand passed through flesh and bone to reach Nanami's core. Then Nanami screamed as their souls touched. The melding of their spirits made Nanami experience all the sadness and anger of her deceased adoptive sister. All the despair Minayo had experienced while sick with smallpox surged into her mind and overwhelmed her senses.

"No…" she heard Minayo's dying thoughts from two years ago. "Not… Not before… I can claim the sword… Must keep the barrier… the barrier… Can't let… them all die… I'm cold…"

Then Nanami experienced Minayo's time as a spirit as intimately as if she had been the one to die. The true child of the Suwas began haunting the Dragoncastle Caverns in attempt to claim the sword, over and over. Each day going to shrine and trying to claim it to complete a ritual she was no longer alive to participate in.

"Lord Njord, I beg of you. I am the true child of the Suwas. Let me through. Without the sword, Yamato is doomed."

The barrier stubbornly refused to fold even to the true heir. Every day, again and again, for two years. Each failure driving Minayo deeper into madness. Then Minayo saw the preparations for Nanami to take her place in the ritual, and she felt those feelings of bitterness and jealousy at being replaced.

Then the vision was cut off and Nanami was back in the cave. She took in a sharp, deep breath as her eyes shot open. Her vision was flooded by another light. It was also white hued, but it wasn't angry and vengeful like the spirit's light. She covered her eyes trying to perceive what she was beholding.

A figure stood before her with their back to her. Nanami saw blue armor, a flowing silver braid, and long white skirts.

"Huh?" Nanami uttered as she tried to comprehend this new situation.

Minayo cowered and shrank back from the new player who had entered the game. Lenneth stood between the spirit and her intended target. The Valkyrie was a visage of cold judgment as she drew out her blade and trained it on the ghost. Nanami sat up, taking in the scene.

"The Valkyrie?" Nanami breathlessly uttered.

As Nanami watched the goddess draw out her blade out against Minayo, she noticed something glint in the corner of her eye. She looked and saw it was the Dragonbane sword reflecting the light of the ghost and the goddess clear from the back of the chamber, still sitting without a wielder. Nanami's eyes widened, and she looked to the goddess again, seeing perhaps the only chance Yamato had of salvation.

"Sorrowful spirit," Lenneth addressed the angry ghost of Minayo sternly. "Death has brought you no peace, but by my hand…"

Nanami had never moved so fast in all her life. She wasn't entirely sure how, but she leapt from the floor and dashed in front of Lenneth, planting herself firmly between the Valkyrie and the intended recipient of her judgment with her arms outstretched to the sides.

"WAIT!" Nanami cried, startling Lenneth with her sudden movement and shout.

Minayo stared at Nanami, unsure of what to make of her actions.

"What do you think you are doing?" Lenneth demanded. "Step aside. Now."

"Please stop!" Nanami begged.

"I cannot ignore this," Lenneth replied. "If I do not intervene, this spirit will unleash a great tragedy upon you."

She kept her sword pointed forward, not so much at Nanami, but in case the spirit tried anything.

"No!" Nanami insisted empathetically. "This ends now. A great tragedy hangs over all of Yamato if you strike her down now."

Lenneth's expression did not change, but she did glance first at Minayo, and then at the Dragonbane sword in the back of the cave before her eyes went back to Nanami.

"Explain," the goddess prompted.

Nanami partially turned around to look at Minayo, who she gave a pitying look. Minayo was again taken back by the girl she'd just tried to possess.

As Nanami began speaking, her voice was breathy, "This girl is Suwa Minayo, the last daughter of the Suwa clan. After she is truly gone from this realm, there will be no more Suwas left to claim the sword in time to save Yamato."

A nonplused Lenneth looked sharply at Nanami. "Who are you, then? Did you not come down here to petition use of that very blade?"

Nanami slowly faced the goddess, again wiping tears from her eyes. "I am Suwa Nanami, but I was born Higurashi Nanami. The Suwas took me after they found me, a toddler wandering the road after my parents… my real parents were devoured by giant Virilomë spiders in the central Hai-Lan bamboo thickets."

Lenneth slowly began to lower her weapon as she listened.

"So please…" Nanami turned to Minayo again. "Save her. She's our only hope."

Minayo's anger began to die as the sisters looked deeply into each other's eyes. The ghost broke eye contact and turned away as feelings of remorse crept in. She was left wondering how she had come to be jealous and murderously hateful of her beloved sister.

Lenneth slowly shook her head. "I cannot. That girl is already dead. The pact with Njord requires a living child of the Suwa family line to claim the sword. There is nothing I can do for her except send her into the hereafter. I am sorry, human, for the cataclysm to come, but this is beyond my power to mend."

"Wait," Nanami held up her hand as though that would stop a goddess. "What if she had a body again? Would she be alive again?"

Lenneth looked at the girl, not quite certain what she was getting at. "…Yes. If we had a suitable vessel for her, the girl would be restored to life, but that is impossible."

Nanami slapped her palm against her chest. "Then she can have mine. Take me, instead."

Lenneth and Minayo stared at her in complete astonishment.

"Human, do you have any idea what you are offering?" Lenneth demanded.

"Yes, my life," Nanami answered. Her fear was plain in her face and voice. "I really don't want to… I don't want to die… But… I thought my anger and sadness greater were than anyone else's."

She quickly gave Minayo a last look before turning to the Valkyrie fully. "But it's all nothing compared to what everyone will feel if I don't do this. I also want to save Minayo. Her anguish hurts me even more than it hurts her."

Nanami buried her face in her hands as wept again. "Truly, this is all I can do…"

"Humans…" Lenneth thought, at a loss of what to say. "You can live a thousand of their lifetimes and still be surprised by them."

"Very well, then," the Valkyrie said. "You are coming with me. Nanami, was it?"

Nanami's hands fell from her face as she stared back, eyes big. "That's right… I had forgotten your duties for a moment. Thank you, Lady Valkyrie."

"Wait," behind her, Minayo protested. "This isn't right, either. Please don't…"

She reached for Nanami and then the world fogged over for a moment. When it cleared, Minayo found herself standing before the goddess, but Nanami was nowhere in sight.

"What?" Minayo looked around, confused and worried to see her sister vanished.

Then a glowing blue orb in the palms of the Valkyrie's hands. Minayo knew right away that had to be Nanami's soul. She looked down at herself, realizing she was indeed inhabiting Nanami's body now.

"'Twas a great gift your sister gave you," Lenneth's words shook the revived girl. "Few ever receive such a blessing due to the steep price required. Do not waste this second chance."

The goddess turned away and begin to leave.

"Lady Valkyrie, wait, I don't deserve this," Minayo begged. "I am an unworthy heir of my family. I tried to kill Nanami, myself, in petty jealousy. She still has her whole life ahead of her. Don't take it from her."

Lenneth stopped and looked at her. "I am taking nothing, Nanami gave herself freely."

Minayo's mouth moved, but she had trouble finding the words.

"Besides, 'tis not about what you deserve, but what you must do now," Lenneth stated. "Go claim the blade. Your second chance is also Yamato's last. The dark grows thick over these lands. I would not dawdle."

Then the goddess and Nanami were gone and Minayo was left alone in the Dragoncastle Caverns. With nothing else to be done, Minayo turned and faced the sword's shrine, a mind full of doubts similar to the ones Nanami had faced.


The einherjar were gathered around the cave entrance, guarding it to ensure no one, or nothing, entered or left while Lenneth collected their new comrade. Arngrim, Belenus, and Lawfer stood directly in front of the cave's opening with Llewelyn and Jelanda off to the sides.

It was with a sense of bittersweetness that Belenus looked towards Hai-Lan on higher ground. Only the tops of the tallest building were visible.

"To think I would come to the land which birthed Asaka, but without her," he thought.

His eyes trailed down to the sand as he realized how much he missed her.

"Dear Asaka. Are you well?" this thought made him realize he still worried for her. "I hope you have found yourself in my cousin Lobelia's employ. She would treat you well."

It'd been a while since Lenneth left them there, and Arngrim was getting antsy. The scarred warrior stood impatiently, frequently looking towards the cave. His arms were crossed, and his finger tapped impatiently against his arm. Under his seeming inability to wait, there was worry. Lawfer decided to take the initiative on this one. He playfully gave Arngrim a light punch on his armored shoulder to get his attention.

"You shouldn't worry. I'm sure if anything happens, she'd have already summoned us to her side. Belenus informed me she could do that," Lawfer said.

"Feh!" Arngrim waved him off.

Lawfer chuckled, understanding Arngrim speak all too well.

"He is worried," Lawfer thought.

"If Lady Valkyrie told us to wait, we should," Jelanda piped up, wagging a finger at him. "You'll never be a proper einherjar if you can't start obeying orders."

Belenus sharply turned to her with a perturbed look, but said nothing. He knew her comment would only spur the scarred warrior on. Sure enough, Arngrim's arms fell to his sides and he faced the cave.

"She's sure taking her sweet time down there. I'm goin' after her," Arngrim started to enter.

"Well done," Belenus dryly told the ex-princess.

"Arngrim, wait. it's not even been a half-hour. Look at where the sun's positioned," Lawfer grabbed the larger man's arm as he started to walk past.

"Yeah, well, with some of the things we've encountered since joining her, that's more than long enough for meet with disaster," Arngrim retorted.

Belenus and Llewelyn exchanged a look, both knowing he was right. Jelanda looked down, kicking a bit of sand off her boot as she considered the point.

"Alright, you may have a point about that," she admitted.

Belenus looked at her again and then at everyone else. He held up his hands to stop them before this went any further.

"Hold on just a moment, everyone. Perhaps we should wait just a while longer before we do anything rash," he suggested. "I am sure she would call us if there was anything the matter."

"Quite correct, Belenus."

Jelanda and Llewelyn both retreated a step as Lenneth suddenly appeared among them just outside the mouth of the cave.

"My einherjar, allow me to introduce Nanami," Lenneth stretched her right arm out to the side, materializing the newest einherjar.

"Huh?" Nanami looked around, unsure of how they had left the caves so quickly.

She quickly spotted the others gathered around in a row.

"Oh," the miko exclaimed in surprise. "H-hello!"

Lenneth walked past her, taking up a spot in the middle between Arngrim and Belenus.

"Nanami, meet your team," Lenneth gestured around.

"Oh, hello everyone. I'm Suwa Nanami," Nanami bowed in greeting. "I will be in your care from now on."

"Another brat?" Arngrim dubiously asked.

"B-brat?" was Nanami's wounded reply.

Before this exchange could go any further, Jelanda raced in from the side, bonking Arngrim over the head with her scepter and then stood puffing out her cheeks angrily with the backs of her fists pressed to her hips. Llewelyn and Lawfer both turned away to hide their grins.

"Gah! What the Hel?" Arngrim grasped the aching side of his head, glaring at her angrily.

"Have some manners, you beast!" Jelanda scolded, waving the Elemental Scepter at him with each word to punctuate her point. "That is how you introduce yourself to a lady?"

Then she turned to Nanami, who nervously twiddled her pointer fingers. Jelanda noted she and the Yamato girl were about the same height and seemed to be about the age.

"L-listen, I don't want to cause a stir…" Nanami softly murmured.

"It's no trouble!" Jelanda assured her. "Now, then…"

The ex-princess curtsied to their newest member. "I'm Jelanda, a mage serving under Lady Valkyrie, and I am so glad another lady is joining us, especially one my age."

"Oh, so you've been traveling with Lady Valkyrie and all these men?" Nanami inquired.

She covered her face to hide her flushing cheeks.

"Well, yes, of course," Jelanda answered plainly.

The others actively hid their amusement at how the underlying meaning in Nanami's question had flown over Jelanda's head.

"Anyway," Jelanda said with a sigh, and then pointed at Arngrim with her thumb. "That's Arngrim. He's not quite as bad as he seems."

The scarred warrior just turned away, grumbling. Lawfer stepped forward.

"Hello, Lady Nanami," he greeted.

Jelanda stepped aside, allowing Lawfer to introduce himself. He took Nanami's hand in his own as he bowed, causing her to blush and exclaim, "Oh, my!"

"You can call me Lawfer, son of Lawson," he introduced himself.

Llewelyn seemed confused and leaned over to Belenus to whisper, "I thought Lady Valkyrie said her name was Nanami, but she said it was Suwa."

"They say their surnames first here," Belenus answered him.

"Oh," Llewelyn quietly mouthed.

Lenneth had walked off to the side to allow the einherjar a moment to introduce themselves and chat with their new sister-in-arms. She only paid half-attention to what they said, as her mind was on the negative energies she felt all over the island.

"So, what can you do?" Arngrim asked Nanami.

"Oh, I'm a shrine maiden. I mostly practice warding spells to keep evil entities at bay, but I can also Heal, lift curses, and I can strengthen my teammates," Nanami explained.

Lenneth looked again to the Dragoncastle Cavern with her second sight. There was a powerful negative aura which reigned above the others within, but it was dormant and deep within the cave system. It was also nowhere near where they had left Minayo, and she could sense the girl was safe. Going after the reigning evil presence would be akin to stirring up a hornet's nest. Lenneth decided that doing so before the sword was retrieved would be unwise.

The Valkyrie closed her eyes and let her senses stretch out. Besides the caves, she had detected a growing darkness on the surface of Yamato as they passed over it. She could not pinpoint where its sources were yet, but it felt not dissimilar to the anomaly in the fabric of reality which had prematurely cut Llewelyn's lifeline.

"Could there be a corrupted thread of fate here?" Lenneth questioned.

She tried to focus, but there was such a well of evil building within the island, it was difficult to tell, even for a Valkyrie like herself.

"'Tis as though much of the evil still sleeps, but will rouse soon," Lenneth thought.

She determined right there and then she would keep the island of Yamato in the corner of her eye for the time being, as there was simply not enough room in her timetable to search every corner of the island day in and day out.

"I may need to inquire about this to the other gods," she considered.

She turned to her einherjar.

"Attention," Lenneth announced. Her team promptly halted their talk to listen. "'Tis late in the afternoon and for now, our work is done. We will return to Valhalla early this evening and continue the hunt on the morrow."

Nanami raised her hand.

"Um, excuse me, Lady Valkyrie?" she timidly spoke. "I have a question."

"You may ask," Lenneth replied.

"The hunt?" Nanami tilted her head curiously.

"I will explain everything once we are in Valhalla," Lenneth answered. "I will be taking you aside to test your mettle, anyway."

Nanami didn't know if she liked the sound of that, but she bowed meekly, anyway.

"Yes, of course, Lady Valkyrie," she answered.

Nanami turned to the caves, giving them one last anxious look before they departed. Lenneth noticed the girl's worry.

"You needn't worry about Minayo," the Valkyrie told her.

Nanami turned to her new commander curiously. "I don't?"

"Truly. I think everything has transpired exactly as it needed to," the goddess stated.

So, the shrine girl began to smile. "Very well, then. I trust you, Lady Valkyrie."

Then they were gone, and all was silent on the beach until sometime later when Minayo stepped out into the sunlight.


Taka and Eri stood on the back porch of the Suwa clan's temple, waiting and watching for Nanami's return. It was sundown now, and she was still gone. They were past the point of simply worrying about her. Something had to be wrong.

"Dear…" Eri gently urged her husband.

Taka looked at her, and finally nodded. "I will fetch my effects and go after her."

He turned and headed back into the temple while Eri remained to watch the trail. He had just begun to slide the back door open when he heard his wife gasp and then call to him.

"Taka, look!"

"Hmm?" he turned around.

She was pointing up the path at something. When he looked, he saw their Nanami on the trail heading towards the temple. Relief swept over the couple instantly, and Taka bolted from the porch onto the grass, running past Eri, who followed suit.

Minayo saw her parents coming towards her and smiled for the first time since before she died. She broke into a run as well.

"Mama! Papa!" she called out to them.

They met on the path, stopping just short of colliding with each other. The Suwa couple stared in awe as 'Nanami' presented to them the Dragonbane sword, a katana blade in a green sheath, patterned after the scales of a dragon. She held it up level with both hands.

"I did it, Honored Parents," Minayo told them. "I present the Dragonbane sword."

Eri clapped a hand over her mouth as she was overcome with emotion. "Oh, Nanami!"

Taka barley looked at the sword. He was just relieved beyond all measure to see 'Nanami' returned to them, alive. Minayo gasped in shock as she pulled into a tight hug by her father. She had not felt an embrace like this in two years of lonely haunting.

"I knew it. You really are our daughter, too," he told her. "Nanami, I did not say this to before, but you were never just a replacement for Minayo, no matter what the townspeople say. You are Nanami, and you have your own place here at the temple. Minayo would be proud of you right now."

"Oh, Papa, I am proud of Nanami," she thought. As she closed her eyes, Nanami's tear ducts somehow still had enough reserve for two more.

Minayo again thought on how wrong it was to ever think her parents tried to replace her, and that all the hate and murderous rage against her sister was also wrong.

"I never got to properly apologize. Oh, Nanami, I'm sorry," Minayo looked towards the heavens. "Nanami, I will never forget what you did for me. I pray for your safe travels and that your walk with the Valkyrie will somehow bring your peace I could not attain in death."

She looked at the Dragonbane sword in her hand. "I must complete the ritual and reinforce the barrier. Or else, what did Nanami die for?"