Chapter 4.R: "An Innocent Wish" An AMG Fan Fic, an official "Ai Shiteru" Side Story, and a Ranma 1/2 x-over By: icezer230, a.k.a Shu and Feir.
E-mail: icezer230@yahoo.com (C&C welcome)
Webpage: http://icezer.itgo.com/fanfic.html
A BUNCH OF COPYRIGHTS (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS LEGAL JARGON) This story and the characters of This story and the characters of Rhiana, Kei, Nao, and those of the 'Green Leaves Tea Shop' series belongs to me (icezer230, a.k.a Shu). The characters of Morgall and Raich are concepts by Feir. The characters true to AMG are copyrighted by Kosuke Fujishima and his associates. Brett, Chia-Yao, Syliana, and the other immortals (unless mentioned otherwise) from the 'Oh! My God!' fanfiction are copyrighted by Darkwind (a.k.a Brett Handy) and have been used with permission.
The character of Kenji from the 'No Mere Mortal' fanfiction is a creation of Ed Sharpe. The characters true to Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi and the distribution companies (whoever they are). If you haven't read chapter 1 or part 1, please read it!
A LEGEND, FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT.
**=thought
""=speech
()=explanations
[]=insertions/interruptions by the author!*****
It had been raining for three hours now; drumming against the rooftop of the small teahouse with rhythmic frequency. The effect was lulling; the kind of atmosphere you could easily drift off to sleep to, if you weren't careful.
*At the rate things are going today, I could probably afford to take a kip.* Sean Ishikawa shrugged to himself, dipping the head of his mop into the soapy water and slowly cleaning over the scuffed tiles in measured strokes. The Green Leaves Teashop had seen a lot of wear and tear over the years, but today, business was slow -- with the sole exception of the couple at the back table, the teahouse was deserted.
Strange, that. They'd been sitting there for three hours now, drinking tea -- and yet, for the life of him, he couldn't remember anyone ever coming in. Or ordering anything, for that matter. But yet, the man had been nursing the same cup for the best part of an hour. Or at least, it looked like the same cup--
*Either my memory's starting to go, or I should get my head examined,* Sean sighed, sneaking another glance at the pair. They certainly weren't Japanese, that much was sure. From the extraordinarily pale skin color to the dark, sleek hair; everything about the two seemed out of place. Even the cut of their -- admittedly drab -- businessclothes was something no local salaryman would be seen dead in. Too, their holding was much too stiff; overbearing even, watching the crowds passing outside with cold indifference.
Noticing Sean's persistent stare, the woman turned to face him.
"What do you want?" she demanded gruffly.
"I, uh...can I get you anything?" Sean managed to stutter, completely caught by surprise.
"I already have what I want." With that, she turned back and began to stir some sugar into a cup of black tea that Sean could have sworn wasn't there a moment ago.
"Right..." he grimaced, feeling suddenly very stupid. "Maybe something to eat? You've been here a while, after all--"
"We're covered." the man answered, waving some flaking pastry at him. "But I'm sure you've got more important things to do elsewhere. Right?"
"Only I don't think I--"
"Perhaps my brother wasn't being clear enough, little man." the woman said, snapping out of her seat and drawing up to an impressive height. In the space of two breaths, she was already in his face, brilliant red eyes boring deeply into his. "Leave."
Sean forced another smile, nodded, and very quickly backed away -- only when he reached the safety of the kitchen did he allow himself to sink gratefully to the floor.
"You can't tell me that little bit of mopping is too much for you, Sean." his mother chided in clipped British tones as she sorted out packets of powdered leaves.
"It's those customers, mum." Sean sighed, slowly picking himself off the floor. "They give me the creeps, I swear. Three hours, and I don't remember ever taking a single order."
Phyllis Ishikawa looked up and smiled semi-condescendingly.
"What customers are you talking about, dear?"
Sean flashed his mother a quizzical look.
"What do you mean, 'what customers'? They've been sitting here the whole time. Right by the--"
But the table was empty.
"You will now die. Make whatever rituals are necessary for your species."
-- Traditional Ur-Quan call to battle.PART 2: SHOWDOWN IN DIS 1383 Having gone through it three times, Kenji's stomach had become adjusted to the high tension that was usually needed for a transport between the immortal and mortal realms. However, he still felt a little uneasy afterwards. He found himself in Shinjuku, a popular shopping area--the "in" place for teenagers. He instantly became conscious of what he was wearing at the moment. An old T-shirt and long baggy khaki pants. Not bad, but still a little outdated and not quite right for the 'scene' right now. A few girls were laughing and pointing at him and his clothes. His face burnt with embarassment.
*OK...I've got to get a change of clothes, pronto* he thought. He wasn't about to be made fun of by other teenagers his own age. As he walked into a department store (where he was instantly greeted by women especially hired to smile and say 'Welcome to the xxx humble department store. We humbly thank you for choosing our humble...') he browsed through a couple of stores before deciding on something to buy. He still had his wallet with him, so buying these clothes were not a problem.
Then, as he passed the women's section (which was naturally on the way to the men's section), he spotted an outfit that would have looked great on Skuld. Next to it, however, was an outfit that would look absolutely fabulous on Rhiana. Shaking his head, he wondered at his indecision about these two girls. He had somehow gotten closer to Rhiana these past few days...but he still had feelings for Skuld.
He remembered the scene earlier that day, where Rhiana was still asleep but looked...well, like an angel. *A goddess. She's a goddess* he reminded himself. He had felt something back there, something he probably shouldn't have felt. Not to someone he just met. It felt kind of wrong, somehow, and that was why he was troubled so much.
Then again, the other source of his torment: the sweet innocent Skuld. His cousin Keiichi's girlfriend's youngest sister. She was a smart girl, and really beautiful. And she's not even a goddess like Rhiana is. She had ways to relate to him that they were inseparable. Best friends, you know? And even more. When they kissed, there was a spark that made his body tingle with excitement.
It was all sooo confusing it made his head hurt. *Now I know how Skuld feels about me and that other guy...chow yow, was it? Well...something like that...* he thought miserably as he stared at these two dresses. A few salesgirls looked at him in a strange way and whispered among each other, but he was too preoccupied with his thoughts as he looked back and forth between those two dresses that he didn't even notice. In the end, he bought those two dresses (to the surprise of the present women) and left for the men's area once more.
*****
Somewhere in a small, cramped space, two demons sat arguing.
"You don't suppose you could have made our transportation any _more_ conspicuous?" Raich sighed, shaking his head softly.
Hunched over a scarlet-illuminated console, Morgall frowned.
"Stop complaining, brother. We have a reputation to uphold, you know."
"I know, I know. But--" He prodded at one bulkhead with the tip of his elbow. "--a little more leg room wouldn't have been a bad idea."
"We used up all of our energy summoning this thing." Morgall answered bluntly. "If you want more leg room, get out and _walk_."
Underfoot, Japan trembled.
*****
Kenji looked through the racks of shirts with mild interest, trying to pick out something that would suit him. But he couldn't focus. With the package containing his other purchases wedged firmly under his arm, his mind kept straying back to Rhiana -- and Skuld. What was he going to do? He knew he liked them both, but at some point, he had to make a decision. Trouble was, he had a distinct feeling that that decision had already been made for him -- Skuld seemed to be perfectly with Chow-whatever, and Rhi...well, Rhi was a little...uh, different. At least, as far as he could tell. He wasn't about to go all-out and ask her up-front if she--
The sudden tremble caught him by surprise, nearly knocking him off his feet. Even before the panicked shrieking started, he already knew the drill: earthquake. Suddenly enveloped by a frightened horde, he struggled to remember his school's earthquake drill.
*Do I get out of the building quickly...or hide underneath something? No, wait...*
Something metallic crunching outside made him almost jump out of his skin. Already, sirens were sounding -- but they didn't sound like the usual natural disaster announcements the government used. Come to think of it, they sounded more like something out of an old Gojira movie--
*Oh god, no.*
He barely had time to jump out of the way as a gigantic metal fist punched through the solid concrete with contemptuous ease, snatched into thin air, then pulled back again. Through the opening, Kenji could see metal, and lots of it -- several thousand tons of military hardware, squatting down in front of the battered shopping mall like a child playing with her dollhouse.
*What the hell is this? Mobile Suit Gundam?* Kenji thought, trying to stop himself from hyperventilating as he flattened into a corner. The mecha's hand reached in for another try, meter-long fingers carelessly flicking aside shop displays and breaking store windows in search of their prey. Again, they narrowly avoided him by meters; again they pulled back--
Kenji became suddenly aware, with a sinking feeling, that the support pillars were starting to quake. Looking up, he barely had time to flinch before the entire roof was torn off, exposing him and the entire floor to the huge mobile suit's scrutiny. He started to break for the escalator, but before anything else could happen, two gigantic fingers picked him up in tweezer-fashion, nearly crushing his rib-cage in the process.
He felt the contents of stomach threatening to leave altogether as the ground sank away, replaced by a frighteningly long fall onto solid concrete. Crushed cars were piled in impromptu scrapyards around the rising mech, coupled with the odd commuter train and uprooted subway, Kenji got the impression that the entire transportation network had been wrecked...for his sake.
*I suppose I should feel special.*
Finally, his ascent slowed. Suspended meters from the impassive metal face of the mecha, he hung; thoroughly screwed. As he watched, a small hatch popped open in the mobile suit's head, revealing the smugly grinning form of Raich the Gillain.
Raich promptly raised a megaphone to his mouth and began to speak.
"Well, Morisato Kenji -- it looks like the end of the line for you!" He attempted a booming laugh, causing the megaphone to let out a long, piercing squeal of feed-back. The demon winced, glaring at Kenji accusatorily, the continued. " At any rate, as you will have realised by now, escape is futile. There's enough power in these servo-motors to crush you like the insignificant insect you are -- and then some. Take it from me when I say that your chances of survival, if you piss my sister off again, are less than nil."
"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Kenji roared into the wind. "Mobile suits!" He shook his head in quiet desperation. "Talk about cliched..."
"What's wrong with mobile suits?" Raich called back. "We have you, don't we?"
"Yes, but that's not the point! The point is, as demons, you shouldn't be summoning up huge city-crushing death machines! You should be summoning up...things...with tentacles and, and laser eyes...and-- well, supernatural kind of stuff! Not this Patlabor reject here!"
"We happen to be very sophisticated demons," Raich sniffed, but the hurt in his voice was unmistakable. "You move with the times."
"But still--"
"Don't you ever shut up?" Morgall growled as she emerged alongside her brother, drawing a stun gun without ceremony. Her face, as always, had the barely disguised look of contempt; as if regarding a particularly large cockroach that had suddenly crawled out a kitchen drain. "If you weren't worth so much alive..."
Kenji opened his mouth to reply, but the female demon had already aimed and fired before he could react. Struggling with suddenly heavy limbs, Kenji pulled against the iron grip of the fist. But it was no good. The last thing he felt as he blacked out was the familiar tingle of teleportation--
--destination unknown.
*****
*Sigh* Another boring meeting. Don't they ever have something interesting to report for once? Geez...Rhiana thought as she propped her head up with her hands while she listened to the weekly report made by some god she couldn't put a name to. Well, at least it's nearly my turn to say what happened during our little assault.
"Rhiana, you may now rise and address the council. What news do you bring us?" a thundering voice who could only belong to the Kami said.
"I was assigned to a certain Morisato Kenji the other day and something strange happened. I was given an assignment--which turned out to be a setup for my capture. I was not to be harmed, as if they wanted me for some greater purpose. This, I think is an inside job. As you can see, since I'm standing here addressing to you all, I have survived this encounter and brought him back safely. But it was a close one, something that I would have trouble getting out of if not for the help of the mortal himself.
Gillains, as you all well know, are mercenary demons. They don't usually work with personal motivations, they usually receive orders by a higher command. I believe this is the case. I don't know who did this and for what purpose, but I am inclined to believe that the perpetrator which caused this incident in the first place is on _our_ side," Rhiana said. To this, the council seemed to break out into whispers among each other. Rhiana had to pause and wait for them to quiet down before she continued with her monologue.
"I know the person is on _our_ side because no one could get access, much less _read_ the information on the system, without someone on our side! What I propose to create here, is an investigative team, to investigate who is behind all this, and what reasons they have of doing all this. Demons and gods do not work together on those terms for any reason other than power and control. I am certain that if we do not prevent this soon enough, it may lead to another war. A war that would undoubtedly cause turmoil in the mortal worlds, probably causing worse casualties than the last. I would like to prevent such a thing from occuring by acting early enough. What will you all say?" she asked.
It was unanimous, all for her investigation team. The council then discussed who would be on it, and one of the members of that team would be her, since she was the one who came up with it in the first place and she was the only one who could identify the Gillains properly. There were some from the security sections--for fear of near-future attacks, but most of the gods and goddesses were those who had dealt with corruption or 'inside jobs' before. By the end of the meeting, she was exhausted. When she plopped down on her office chair, she closed her eyes and sighed loudly. Then she opened them to look for Kenji. But the office was quiet. There was only her there. Her eyes widened in alarm. Where did he go?
"Jargon!" she commanded before the humanoid appeared.
"Yes, mistress Rhiana?"
"Where's Kenji?"
"Er...he's gone back to the mortal realm, mistress...didn't you allow him to do so?"
"Damnit, Jargon, he could be in danger!" Rhiana shouted before she ran to the direction of the portal, and then disappeared, leaving Jargon blinking. He sighed, shrugged, and then disappeared.
*****
It had style; Kenji had to say that much for it. A nasty, disturbing, thoroughly inhuman style, but style nonetheless.
It took him roughly three seconds to determine that he was tied up; three more to find out that he had also been staked to the floor, and a full ten minutes to recover from the shock when he had first seen his surroundings.
In the midst of an ocean of foul-smelling oil, seeded with the carcasses of long-dead sea monsters and leering iron gargoyles, the Gillains' tower bobbed; midnight-blue mosaics twisted into airy, impossible organic shapes that writhed to the sky. More disturbingly, this living marble constantly moved within itself, forming protrusions that, with a little bit of imagination, could be made out as faces; leering and taunting within inhuman abandon. But that was not the worst part of it. That was the writhing itself -- combined with the constant rocking motion of the building, it was enough to make Kenji heartily seasick.
His first act of consciousness was to nearly empty his stomach; only to choke back when he caught the female Gillain, Morgall, staring at him pointedly. They were circling him warily; like sharks around a shipwreck survivor clinging on to debris, thin smiles rich with murderous intent.
"So...our guest is finally awake." Morgall began, by way of greeting. Both demons had abandoned their ash-grey formal wear in favor of flowing black robes highlighted in electric blue so bright it stung the eyes to look at it; and both in one hand held heavy and wicked-looking blades -- the type made less for combat, and more for show, but not one bit less threatening because of it.
"Eight hours," Raich said, sharply. "I told you that stun blast was at least a few degrees too powerful."
"You obsess too much on the small details, brother." the female Gillain replied, idly tossing her heavy sword from one hand to the other. The blade arced back and forth, catching the distant lightning-fires of the pocket dimension's overcast sky. "This is home to us," she said to Kenji, resuming her orbit around him. "Shaping it to our specifications took a great deal of time and effort, but one should feel comfortable in one's own pocket dimension."
"We're a little short on amenities, however." Raich said. "You should, however, note that we have taken great and personal care in securing you."
"Those chains are pure mithril, Morisato -- imbibed with magic no ordinary weapon can break through. No amount of straining and pulling is going to get you out of them, so I suggest you conserve your energy for now."
"What's going to happen to me?" Kenji interjected.
Crossing around, Morgall's face lit up in a look which chilled Kenji through and through.
"That's not up to us, Morisato." she sighed languidly. "That would be entirely up to your little friend..."
*****
She had searched everywhere. His house, his cousin's house, his said usual hangouts...to no avail. He just simply wasn't there. As if he disappeared from the face of the Earth. Gritting her teeth, she teleported back to the office to give Jargon a scolding for letting Kenji go. But a beeping from her computer, alerting her to a special e-mail message, caught her attention. Frowning, she went to her console desk and called the message up on the screen.
--------
To: rhiana@divine.kami.wishgrant.org
From: xxxxdsf^$282
Sender error. Query returned unanswered.Subj: Morisato Kenji
Hello, Rhiana.
I suppose you've discovered by now that your little mortal friend has gone missing. For your own sake, I'd recommend you don't waste any more time looking for him, though. You won't find him.
As it happens, he's currently our guest, here in our little humble pocket dimension. It's listed in the records as 'Dis 1383', if that's any help to you.
You have exactly twelve hours to show up at our doorstep. Otherwise, I begin to systematically take apart the boy, one limb at a time, over several hours. I've had several centuries to refine my art, so you can rest assured that this process will be an incredibly agonising one.
The choice, as they say, is yours.
Morgall of the Gillains
---------------------------------
PS: I have to admit, I've been a little disappointed. I was expecting a little more out of one of the much-vaunted Valkyries, but our last confrontation was nothing short of pathetic. Good opponents are so hard to find these days.
--------
She read the e-mail a few times over and soon, her anger boiled over, making her face look...not quite as pleasant. Should she ask the team for help? After all, she would have to go into their pocket dimension alone. But then again, if she got help, she would probably never even get into the pocket dimension...to save Kenji.
She sighed. Then an idea came up. *Wait a minute. What about the security daemons? Maybe _they've_ got some tools and weapons I could use* she thought. She smiled and then headed down to the security daemon section of Heaven. It wasn't that far away.
*****
Sitting on a floor that refused to stay still, firmly tied and staked down, Kenji felt angry at a lot of things. Angry at the heavy chains keeping him from moving; angry at being captured like this, angry at the demon twins and their stomach-churning taste in interior design; and above all, angry at himself for being this stupid. As much as he hated to admit it, there'd been a reason for Rhi's overbearing attitude after all; and because he'd been stupid and gone back to the mortal realm, he'd landed them both in a whole world of trouble. Himself, there was no doubt about, but he knew almost instinctively that she'd come and try to rescue him.
At which point, the twins would kill her.
The way the demons were posturing around, there was no doubt they weren't expecting much of a fight, either. Kenji, despite his best wishes, knew that this would be the case, too: whatever fighting ability Rhiana had would be next to useless against the Gillains' manifesting ability. But maybe, just maybe...
"Don't get your hopes up, Morisato." Raich said, as if responding to his unheard words. "Your Valkyrie friend doesn't stand a chance against the two of us."
"What do you want from us?" Kenji demanded, managing to meet Morgall's unsmiling face without flinching.
"You know what they say about the people you know?" The male demon shrugged expansively, walking over to Kenji at a conversational pace. "Well, believe it or not, we have nothing against you personally."
"Aside from the fact that you are an irritating, insignificant little insect who doesn't know when to shut his trap." Morgall added. "Killing you will be a pleasure."
"Hey, wait--"
"But that fact aside," Raich continued, "it's only business. We--" he threw a look over at his sister, and corrected himself. "--I couldn't care less about what happens to you. The only thing that matters to us is that, in the right hands, you're worth a lot to us."
"And whose hands would those be?"
Morgall was at him almost immediately.
"Just how stupid do you think we are, Morisato?" she spat, lifting him up by the weight of his chains and shaking him violently.
"Well," Kenji managed with a smug grin. "It's obvious that you didn't get this far by your wits alone."
Roughly the second his face made intimate contact with the stone floor, he knew he'd chosen the wrong thing to say. Propelled by every inch of muscle the Gillain possessed, Kenji's head cracked hard against the mosaic arrangements, breaking his nose in a muted crunch of cartilage. Before he could even moan out in protest, he was flung back again, discarded like a toy that had exhausted its entertainment possibilities.
Lying in a spreading of pool of his own blood, Kenji could only nod dumbly as Morgall spoke again.
"Let's get one thing straight, Morisato: you will die. That is guaranteed certainty. _How_ you will die, on the other hand, is still up in the air." She kneeled down next to him, until his face was only inches away from hers, and went on. "There are ways to prolong the process of death over a period of several weeks -- months even...pain as pressing and terrible as you couldn't even imagine in your worst little insect nightmares. I know them, Morisato. All of them, and more besides." Contemptuously, she drew herself back up to full height. "If I were you, I'd think very carefully about what I say and do over the next couple of hours. One word could make all the difference."
*****
"Chia-Yao's not in. He's on assignment, apparently...but we don't know what. What can we do for you anyway, Rhiana?" the young god behind the counter at the information desk asked.
"Well...Ever since my attack and stuff, I've been wanting to get some weapons just for self defense, you know? D'you think you can help me get some?" she asked, playing innocent.
"Oh sure. I understand how you feel. You made a great speech earlier on...I just wish I was on the team myself, but I'm not as qualified yet. But I'll do anything to help, I promise. Come with me and let's see what we can get you..." he said as he walked to a room filled with a lot of odd devices. Most of them were recognizably swords and guns of some sort, but there were others that were seemed strangely out of place.
As the young god in front of her pointed out for her some of his personal favorites, she suddenly saw a striking sword. The grip was slender, as if meant for a woman's use, and the scabbard suggested that the blade was akin to a fencing one, except that it was slightly curved like a samurai sword. The young god, seeing her interest in that one, said that it was a magic sword, but no one really knew how to use it or what would cause the magic in it. When she touched it and took the sword out from its highly decorated scabbard, she saw a crystal blade, instead of the metallic alloy that was common to other swords. She knew she had to have this one.
*****
"I just hope I'm not too late..." she murmured to herself as she stormed into her office, Jargon following her around and mumbling his endless apologies. She brushed him away, giving him her ever-famous 'Get out of my way' stare while calling up a portal to her home.
*She has the sword strapped to her back so this probably isn't a good time to try and apologize to her* he thought. To think of it, Rhiana didn't even speak to him nicely after he once spilled coffee on her monitor a few decades ago. Women. Hmph! He would never understand them! He sighed in a rather human-like way and vanished, hoping that she would be able to forgive him in a couple of centuries.
Rhiana knew she needed to go back to her pocket dimension to bring a few surprises for her 'hosts' when they 'rumbled.' *Hm...what else do I have in here that would help me? Hm...oh, the assault rifle. I'd better bring this. Well...I'd better look over some more incantations in case they throw me a few nuts...Eh? Isn't this...?* she thought as her eyes caught the shapings of an object, nearly forgotten in the corner. Inwardly, she smiled.
*****
As he watched the blood leak from his nose, Kenji privately wondered if it was, in fact, possible to die from a nosebleed. Part of him suspected that if this was the case, he would have been dead already. The blood loss was already making him feel lightheaded and dizzy, and the fact that he couldn't do anything to staunch the flow didn't help matters either. He just hoped Rhiana would get here soon.
Raich and Morgall had long since stopped their little circling game, and now were waiting with all the anticipation of a hardened fighter; tensed muscles, weapons at ready. The robes were a little more abbreviated now -- presumably to prevent them from hampering the demons in combat; but otherwise, the shift from 'idle' to 'ready' had been almost unnoticeable.
"She should be arriving soon." Morgall announced.
Raich, shifting weight from one foot to the other, only nodded. All bluster and tack had gone; replaced by pure professionalism which somehow seemed much more genuinely frightening.
Quietly, the minutes ticked by in tense succession until at last a tiny point of light appeared in the middle of the tower; first little larger than a golfball; then rapidly ballooning out into all directions. Framed in dark-on-light against the dazzling backdrop of the portal, Rhiana the Valkyrie emerged.
"Hello, Rhiana." Morgall said, regarding her opponent with guarded amusement. "How nice of you to drop in."
"Let the boy go." she replied flatly. Something in her eyes that Kenji saw made him shiver and recoil; the vibrant, exasperated look that he'd grown to know had been replaced by something else, something more primordial and fierce. The twins, too, noticed it; Raich raising a respectful eyebrow in acknowledgement.
"The Valkyrie is serious," he remarked, bringing up the weight of his own blade into a combat-ready position.
Rhiana's lip twitched, but she remained quiet; instead reaching for the hilt of her sword. The blade slowly emerging from its scabbard was pure crystal; not the crude metal of the demons' weapons, but something entirely different. The energy radiating off every edge seemed to spark at least some response in the twins; if not fear, then perhaps a silent, quick reappraisal of the situation.
"Balder's Blade of Reckoning." Morgall whispered, sounding almost impressed with the words. "Such a fine weapon truly doesn't suit you, Rhiana."
"Then perhaps it will suit you..when I have driven it through your lifeless body."
Almost as if by mutual consent, the three combatants leapt at one another, weapons raised. Three swords crashed together; two withdrew, and Rhiana leapt back towards one end of the room, keeping the Blade of Reckoning pressed closed to her.
But neither demon seemed to be in any particular hurry to rush her. From his vantage point, Kenji could see them mumbling something; some kind of formula that took hold even as the words left their mouths. In a shower of sparks, the twins lifted off, floating in mid-air in defiance of every rule of gravity. Rhiana, seeing this, began her own incantation, leaping up to join the twins in the spiralling heights of the tower.
The demons had been anticipating this manuever, however. Even as Rhiana shot up, both dove down to meet her, blades at ready. Rhiana only had a split-second to leap out of harms' way as the Gillains bore down; and even then barely avoided being cut up on the spot. But instead of continuing her ascent, she reversed directions; back down towards the ground -- and the open arches leading out onto the sea of oil.
This move bought her a few seconds of time: Raich and Morgall, who had been expecting the opposite, lunged into thin air even as Rhiana darted towards the open air. Undeterred, the demons quickly changed tack and followed her.
On the ground, Kenji considered trying to cheer Rhiana on -- that being about the only thing he could do at the moment. But in this situation, even one little distraction could spell the end. The best thing he could do, he realised, was to just stay quiet and hope, hope with all of his heart that Rhiana didn't get killed now.
They hovered over the black-slickened skeleton of some kind of monstrous, hellish whale; Rhiana a little lower; the demons almost on top of her. They were biding their time; conserving their energies for economical, precise attacks calculated for the maximum damage, but the simultaneous strain of keeping up the flight spell and fighting left its toll on all combatants.
It was Raich who broke away first, diving down with surprising speed and grace. The fluid stroke came far too unexpectedly for Rhiana, who barely had time to raise her sword in defense. Pinwheeling to compensate, she caught Raich in the small of the back with a powerful kick; using the demon's momentum to send him flying out of control at high speed.
Morgall promptly stepped in to take his place, but Rhiana now had the chance to focus on her one remaining opponent. Stroke was met with stroke as the two women clashed in fluid motion, hovering in a deadly fencer's ballet, but Rhiana slowly managed to gain the upper hand, driving harder and faster with her blade. Even as the demon's defence crumbled, she attempted to duck under and avoid the flurry of blows. Without hesitation, Rhiana sunk down and brought the full weight of two leather boots against the demon's skull.
Morgall fell with little grace, teeth grit in anticipation for the landing. The resulting burst of viscera was too much for Kenji, who promptly lost what remained of his lunch over the gently lurching cobblestones. The female demon had been impaled on a long rib-bone on the floating skeleton, neatly pinning her down in a gory display of power. But the furious, painful thrashing made it clear that she wasn't going to stay down for long. Rhiana's advantage was only temporary at best; especially now that the other twin had finally regained control.
Raich, with little flash and almost casual ease, materialised a pair of handguns; one for each hand, training them carefully on his opponent. Acknowledging the challenge with a nod, Rhiana kept her blade at combat-ready; both combatants slowly floating towards one another.
Raich opened, coupling a deft lunge with a full-bodied salvo of fire. Bullets whizzed in a wide arc, banged against the honed edge of Rhiana's crystal sword, and shot off at random; scouring several monstrous sculptures. The male Gillain, frowning, brought up a slightly heavier weapon and started firing again: this time, not bullets but bolts of pure energy. Rhiana dodged with what almost seemed to be contemptuous ease, occasionally flicking her sword-arm out to parry a stray blast. The distance between the two was almost halved now, and getting closer all the time.
On the ground, Kenji watched, biting his lower lip nervously. Rhiana was doing much better than he would have expected. Much, much better. As long as she could tackle the twins one at a time--
Avoiding another burst from Raich, Rhiana launched herself at the demon, sword outstretched. At the last minute, he summoned his own blade -- a virtual replica of Rhiana's, meeting it in mid-stroke with a shower of broken crystal. The two blades flashed and sparkled as they exchanged blow after blow, snapping through a quick succession of thrusts-parries at lightning speed. The two combatants were almost evenly matched; Raich having just a little more technical edge, Rhiana the advantage in brute force. But Raich's summoning had left him drained; his strokes were far less than the lightning-quick reflexes he usually displayed. Rhiana, too, noticed this, and pushed ahead as much as she could, slowly but surely backing the demon into the edifice of the tower.
At last minute, Raich dropped height, ducking underneath the Valkyrie as she went in for the killing blow. His own sword snapped out even as Rhiana tried to pull back, cutting deeply into her skin. A long, red gash appeared where Raich had hit; almost reaching from one shoulder to the other, circling deep into Rhiana's sword arm. The effect was immediate: Rhiana recoiled, clutching at herself in involuntary shock.
That was all the opening Raich needed. With a sudden burst of speed, he bodily slammed into the Valkyrie, forcing the full weight of his body into hers. Rhiana crashed against the wall arm first, desperately twisting to break the impact--
Kenji winced as he heard bone breaking. Without looking, he knew automatically that Rhi's sword arm was gone -- and with it, her last chance of survival.
But Raich did not seemed to be celebrating at all. He had an almost dreamy look on his face; a puzzled little smile, looking at Rhiana's pained form inquiringly. Rhiana slowly nodded, her other arm tensing just a little further. The crystalline tip of her sword, visible for the first time, burst from Raich's ribcage with a vengeance, sending hot-glowing demon blood in a wide radius. The demon opened his mouth, as if to speak, but Rhiana had pulled out her sword already. Her good arm reached into the gaping wound--
*God, what is she doing? That's horrible!*
--and withdrew again. Raich's heart glowed in her hands like pure malevolent energy; splashing out insane strobing patterns that distorted the very space around them. She hesitated only the briefest of moments -- then plunged the power-ball into herself, mouth slack, every muscle tensed in anticipation.
A hint of a smile touched Rhiana's grim face, even as Morgall, all blood and entrails, pulled herself up and streaked towards her.
"We're on equal terms now." she breathed, each word heavy with barely-restrained power.
Morgall's lips contorted in a roar of pure animal savagery Already, before the Valkyrie had finished speaking, a volley of multi-colored energy bolts streaked towards her. Experimentally, Rhiana raised her fingers, face masked with determined concentration, ignoring the rapidly-closing projectiles. With one last burst of light, a delicate mirrored shield appeared on one wrist, deflecting the assault and forcing the female Gillain to evade her own attacks.
Furious, she shot out a succession of sharp, whip-like tendrils which wrapped around Rhiana's wrist and broke the shield in two. Rhiana countered in turn, now in full control of her newfound powers, manifesting razor-sharp spikes which tore apart the demon's tendrils in a spray of green ichor. Morgall visibly jerked, recoiling with a pained expression on her face. But that weakness only lasted a moment -- then she raised her hands and began to pour out the full extent of her power.
Protoplasmic force exploded in wild displays of color.
Lights flashed.
Dread demons from the nether worlds lashed out in tentacled menace before fading again.
Giant fighting robots battled to the death with hovering battleships.
For one brief, bizarre moment, a eighty-foot mushroom, jabbering in Swahili, attacked sentient, singing swarms of deodorant sticks.
Finally, both combatants were out of power. Sweat poring out of every inch of skin on her body, Rhiana pulled away from the melee, trying to put as much distance between Morgall and herself as possible before renewing the battle. The female demon promptly followed; fists bared and at the ready.
Expanding a little more of her precious energy, Rhiana manifested an assault rifle and began firing blindly at her opponent; aiming less for damage and more for a little breathing room. Morgall backpedalled furiously, the outlines of a new weapon already materialising in her hands. Before Rhiana had time to evade or even summon up a defence, a sharp swarm of needle-like projectiles drilled into her body, penetrating deep into the Valkyrie's flesh. Rhiana winced involuntarily; already on the counter-attack when the electric shock hit her with muscle-numbing force.
Morgall rested the barrel of her weapon delicately on one hand, watching her opponent arc back, sparks shooting in all directions. Even as the first jolt had passed, the next one hit; again and again unloading the full force of many thousands of volts of electricity into her body. This time, it was too much -- her concentration broken, Rhiana tumbled groundwards, still thrashing as muscles spasmed and cramped all over.
*Oh, no...*
Kenji felt his heart suddenly stop. Rhiana slammed into the solid stone foundations of the tower at bone-shattering speed; a last, desperate look in her eyes before her head lolled forward into unconciousness. A moment later, Morgall elegantly landed next to her.
"You see, boy?" she said hoarsely, looking up at Kenji. "You see what happens when you oppose us?" One hand reached down and rolled the prone Valkyrie over.
Kenji couldn't reply; too focused on the oozing blood and flakes of burnt skin that covered the Valkyrie's body. Even if she had survived the fall, he wasn't sure she would have enough strength left to beat Morgall. The female Gillain herself was still wounded, but not badly enough to dimish that triumphant grin as she laid Rhiana out on the floor. Her fingers gently brushed across the deep gash in the left cheek; teasing the wound a little with one sharp nail. When no reaction came, she strayed across the prominent neckbone, up towards the throat, running one finger along the line of her jaw. The nails cut where they went, scoring thin red trails behind them.
"It's a pity you're on the wrong side," Morgall mused as she brushed over the undamaged half of Rhiana's face, tracing the outlines of her features with almost idle curiosity. "Ah, well. Now all that's left is to take back what you stole from my brother--"
-- without warning, Rhiana's head came up, slamming squarely against the demon's jaw. Morgall gave a yelp of surprise and fell backwards.
"I think not." Rhiana growled. In a blur of motion, she snapped her foot across the still-dazed Gillain's face and slammed it into the ground. Morgall struggled to get back up, but the Valkyrie materialised a heavy sledgehammer -- *Shades of Skuld?* Kenji wondered -- and brought it down with skull-crushing force. The demon slumped forward, blood leaking from her lips, and did not stir.
"Rhiana?"
Rhiana crouched over the demon's body, breath ragged, clutching the hammer in her shaky hands. Her jaw was slack; as if just taking in the enormity of her actions for the first time. She looked at Kenji with something akin to helpless horror.
"Rhiana? What are you waiting for?"
Slowly, the Valkyrie managed to right herself, legs almost threatening to give way, never once taking her eyes from the demon.
"She's just going regenerate! You need to take out her heart!"
Rhiana softly shook her head, looking over to where Raich lay, chest gaping and empty; then back to the sprawled shape of Morgall; still at last. There was no sense of victory in her holding; only exhaustion and disgust.
"No," she finally said. With the last of her energy, she enveloped the two of them in a portal before limply collapsing to her knees; beyond even the might of a Gillain heart to keep conscious.
EPILOGUE
Loki slowly rose from his throne, a thoughtful expression on his face as he dismissed his scrying-window with the wave of a hand.
"Well, well. That was certainly unexpected."
indeed. and fortunate.
"Yes," Loki said, slowly walking over the engraved crystalline circuits decorating the far wall. "Very fortunate. For once, everything worked according to plan." He touched the forming words with a smile, eyes wandering over the mountainscape outside. The mist was already clearing; giving clear view of the jagged rocks below. Around, everything was broken and pointed like the teeth of some great predator's jaw, worn from years of use and abuse; a savage beauty that played to the baser parts of Loki's heart. Now, more than ever, that sight was something comforting.
i believe we have a visitor from the office approaching, the ice spelled out a moment later. your agent.
"Then by all means, let him in." Loki replied evenly, pulling away from the vista. "There is much we need to discuss..."
*****
"Raich..."
Gingerly touching the sharp cracks in her skull, Morgall drew herself to her feet. It was a slow, painful procedure -- even with the accelerated healing of the Gillain heart, her vision still swam erratically, moving in and out of focus at a moment's notice. It took a long time for her to remember the procedure for the flight spell; even longer for her to actually execute it. Hovering bare inches over the floor, she made her way towards her brother's crash site; marked out heavily in red against the dark blue of the tower's stones.
Morgall sadly cradled the pitiful form of the fallen Gillain in her arms. The hole in his chest, where Rhiana had torn out his power source, seemed even larger up close; loose strips of flesh hung raggedly around the wound, unable to heal without energy.
Raich looked up with wide, sunken eyes, barely managing to gurgle a reply.
"...only...flesh wound..."
Then his eyes fluttered, and closed. Raich's head slowly lolled back; his breathing gradually faded away.
Wordlessly, Morgall lowered her brother's body to the ground, then tore a thin slit in her robes, from neck to navel. Slowly letting her hands touch against the bare skin, then penetrate further, she pushed past flesh and bone and into the pulsing center of her heart. Tensing one hand, warm in the accumulated energies, she tore away at the glowing ball of power, pulling until roughly half came away in her hand. Already, she felt weaker; almost feverish, but she slowly withdrew her hand, flinching in the intense glare of the power source. The pain was only momentary; then she plunged the mass of energy into Raich's chest. Tenderly pulling out again, she traced the edges of the wound.
Already, the skin was beginning to heal; new muscle cells and nerve fibers growing to replace those lost in the catastrophic sword-stroke.
Slowly, still in pain, Raich stirred, managing to prop himself up again. He looked at his sister with moist eyes.
"Morgall..."
"It was a long shot." the female demon said flatly. "But I had to try."
"Your powers--?"
"I'm feeling...a little strange. Sick." Morgall ran one extended finger over her own forehead, collecting beaded sweat. "But I'll survive. We'll just have to be a little more careful in future."
Raich nodded weakly. Perhaps it was for the better.
*****
Rhiana and Kenji got past the portal, the bluish hue of the portal disappearing as they fell onto the hard ground of the office. Kenji landed first, and Rhiana on top of him, causing a low groan from below and a feminine hiss from above. They slowly got off each other and a silence ensued.
"So...are you OK?" Rhiana asked Kenji wearily, who was still having a hard time trying to believe what Rhiana had done just a few moments ago. It was only up 'till now did he realize how dangerous powers of a goddess (or even a demi-goddess, in Rhiana's case) were. In response to her question, he nodded slowly as he looked at his companion.
Rhiana was still bleeding rather profusely from the battle that had just transpired. She was still breathing heavily, her chest heaving as if trying to catch up on her breath. Beads of sweat could be seen on her forehead. She grimaced as she took a breath, as her horrifying wounds took their toll on her.
As her concerned eyes bore into his and he found himself unable to look away from her, he realized how much she cared for him. Evidently enough so that she would be willing to risk her life for him. He felt a strange but strong pounding in his heart, and wondered what this could mean...for them both. And then, she spoke.
"Kenji...Never do that again. I don't think I can stand another battle like that," she said, cracking a crooked smile as she tried to muster up some strength to stand up.
"Tell me...why'd you do it?"
He was mesmerized by that smile so it took him a while to say anything.
"I...I couldn't help it. I was...so...confused..."
"About what?"
"...It's nothing."
"Tell me."
"I can't."
"Why? I saved your butt, didn't I?" she snapped, starting to get angry.
"...You really want to know?"
"Yeah. I want to know why you nearly killed me by running off like that. I want to know NOW," she said in the comandeering tone of hers. Kenji gulped and looked away.
"Well...the reason why I left was...'cause I was confused. A lot. A-About...us. I mean, I have a girlfriend and all...and she's great! Her name's Skuld, by the way..." he babbled. He was never good at these touchy-feely situations.
Rhiana's eyes had widened when she heard his confession about his...feelings for her. Inside, she felt a twinge of happiness. But when she heard the name 'Skuld,' she finally realized who Kenji was, and was shocked beyond words. *Oh no, how could this be?* she thought. She closed her eyes shut and was lost in thought. It took a while for her to focus.
"...Rhiana?" a masculine voice which belonged to Kenji startled her out of her reverie.
"...Kenji..." she choked, turning her back to him. She could feel tears running down her cheeks. She couldn't let him see her like this. Not now. She couldn't let him find out how much turmoil she was feeling inside. Time. Time was what she needed.
"...Rhiana?" Kenji asked, his eyes and tone of voice sounding hopeful.
"I...I think it's best if we part ways...."
Kenji felt his heart shatter.
"...so we can think things over...I mean...you have a girlfriend..."
"But!" he protested out loud. But deep inside, he knew that she was right.
"I need to recover, to think things out. I...I feel confused as well, Kenji. Things like this aren't supposed to happen."
"Things like this? Things like what?" he asked, trying to understand.
"I...I can't explain..." she said, her back still turned from him.
"Rhiana..." he said, turning her face with his hands so that he could face her. Rhiana forced herself, despite her many wounds, to scramble out of his grasp and ran out the door.
*I'm sorry.* he heard her voice in his mind. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Jargon came in minutes later, quietly tending to his bruises and wounds. Jargon never said anything. It was obvious that he had heard their conversation. Kenji was too overwhelmed to say anything.
Once he was patched up, Jargon was the one who waved him goodbye. The next thing he knew, he was back on his bed, in his pajamas, as if he was in a dream. His computer clock said that he was at the day he met Rhiana. He wondered if it actually happened. But as he glanced at his surroundings, he noticed the packages he had bought in that department store before the fight draped on his chair and now bore a faraway look of remembrance as he heard the birds chirp outside his room.
"Kenji, come down and eat breakfast!"
"Okay mom, I'll be right down!"
*Maybe...I'll see her again* he thought. *She said so, didn't she?*
It was something good to look forward to anyway.
***** END OF PART 2 *****
FOOTNOTES
Final comments!: It's done. Finally! Thanks to Feir for writing this. I hope we do more collaborations in the future. ^^ This IS the last part of Rhiana's Interlude. You'll have to read Chapters 6 and 7 to find out what happens next! Will you see more of the demonic twins and their leader in action? You can count on it!
*****
'Till next time, au revoir!