Crawling in my skin
these wounds they will not heal
fear is how i fall
confusing what is real
there's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
consuming/confusing
this lack of self-control i fear is never ending
controlling/i can't seem
to find myself again
my walls are closing in
(without a sense of confidence and i'm convinced that there's just too much
pressure to take)
i've felt this way before
so insecure
crawling in my skin
these wounds they will not heal
fear is how i fall
confusing what is real
discomfort,endlessly has pulled itself upon me
distracting/reacting
against my will i stand beside my own reflection
it's haunting how i can't seem...
to find myself again
my walls are closing in
(without a sense of confidence and i'm convinced that there's just too much
pressure to take)
i've felt this way before
so insecure
crawling in my skin
these wounds they will not heal
fear is how i fall
confusing what is real
Linkin Park- Crawling
Chapter 15
Heavens.
Yggdrasil Control
"This sucks."
Urd glanced up from her terminal and looked over at Mara. "What?"
Mara waved her hands around. "This whole situation! It sucks! We've been at it a week and we still haven't figure out a way to stop the virus."
"I agree." said Urd, "But watch your language. Some people don't take to kindly to it around here."
Mara shrank down and looked around. She felt so out of place here, surrounded by thousands of gods and goddesses. The only other demon in Heaven was Ceres and she was currently trying to blend in with the terminal.
Skuld looked up from another terminal. "Well we have one possibility."
"You're not still thinking about Vaccination are you?" asked Urd.
"Well it would work, though it is a bit risky."
"RISKY?!? The majority of the vaccination attempts have failed!" Urd was on her feet glaring at her sister. "And you know what happened to the failures!"
"But Belldandy…….."
"Belldandy was LUCKY!" shouted Urd. All over the control room, Gods and Goddesses stopped what they were doing and watched as the sisters 'conversed'. "She was infected by that virus of Celestine's. He WANTED her to undergo the vaccination so he could access Yggdrasil!"
"Umm…."
Urd turned and stared at Peorth. "WHAT!?!"
"You may find this hard to believe," Peorth began, "but there are other people working here."
Urd looked around and suddenly realized all eyes were on her.
"….Soooo," Peorth continued, "you might just want to keep it down a bit."
"Sorry Peorth."
Peorth looked over at Skuld.
"Vaccination might work, but she'd have to remain in one place for the Mandela to work. How do you plan to keep her from moving away?"
Skuld sighed. "I don't know. We can't hold her down, we'd get hit by the vaccination too."
Urd suddenly frowned. She quickly began entering a bunch of commands and stared at her screen. She then leaned back.
"Damn, I can't believe I forgot about that."
"Forgot what?" asked Peorth.
Urd pointed at her screen. Peorth looked over her shoulder.
"That would work." She said, "How'd you find that?"
Urd was quiet for a moment, then looked up at Peorth. "What happened shortly after the Celestine destroyed the Judgment Gate, when Belldandy…….."
"Oh." Peorth looked at the screen again. "You realize it's going to take a lot of power to keep that spell running. Sayoko's going to fight it."
"I know. But we have limit options." Urd smiled, "Besides, Christmas will be here in a week. I think it'd be a nice Christmas gift if we could bring her home."
Peorth smiled. "Yes it certainly would."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Soultaker sat in her lair. Before her knelt Lucy.
"It is time Lucy." The Soultaker said, "Go………complete your mission."
Lucy nodded and vanished.
The Soultaker smiled.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That night.
Belldandy and Skuld were sitting around the kitchen table. Keiichi, Touji, Hikari, Kirika and Mereille had long since gone to sleep. Urd, Mara, and Ceres remained in the heavens, still searching for a way to break the spell.
"It's starting to look hopeless." Skuld said quietly, "We've been digging deep into Yggdrasil. There hasn't been a spell like this cast in years. We even talked to Hild."
"What did she say?" asked Belldandy.
"Well besides hearing a bunch of swear words I never knew existed, she said that the Soultaker was rather unique. She was able to cast spells that frightened even Hild. That's why she was and still is so feared."
"So how do we break the spell?"
"We may have to resort to vaccination."
Belldandy shut her eyes.
"I'm sorry Bell, but there just isn't any other way that we've found. We're still looking of course but………"
"Tell them to stop looking."
Skuld looked at Belldandy. "What?"
Belldandy opened her eyes. "Tell Urd to stop searching. We'll use vaccination."
"Are you sure? I mean………the risks…….."
Belldandy nodded her head. "I know. I'll talk to Keiichi, but…….we'll go ahead and prepare for it."
Skuld stood up. "I'll go tell Peorth and Urd…….."
"Skuld……..Tell Peorth I'll perform the Vaccination."
"But……."
"Sayoko is my daughter." Belldandy turned her head and looked into her sister's eyes. "I want to be the one that casts the spell. I'll have no one else but me to blame if it fails."
Skuld remained silent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Keiichi."
Keiichi sat up tiredly in the bed.
"Eh? What is it Bell?"
Belldandy sat down on the bed next to Keiichi and pulled him into her arms.
"Whoa!" Keiichi wrapped his arms around his wife. "What is it?"
"We…….we figured out a way to break the spell."
"That's great Bell! That's wonderful!" Keiichi hugged her closer, "Our girl will be back!"
"Keiichi…….." Belldandy released Keiichi and pushed him back a bit so she could see his face. "It's the vaccination."
Keiichi face fell. "Oh."
"We haven't found anything else to break the spell." Belldandy grabbed at the blankets and wrung them in her hands. "I'll perform the spell. It's the only way………"
"Belldandy." Belldandy looked back at Keiichi. "No matter what happens, she'll still be our daughter." He wrapped his arms around her. "And she'll finally be home where she belongs."
Belldandy wrapped her arms around Keiichi and cried softly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England
Ex-SEELE base
Kensuke looked up as Mist walked in.
"Lady Belldandy called." She said, "Cayla and I are required in Tokyo-2."
Kensuke nodded. "Good luck Commander."
Mist turned and started to leave. She froze at the door.
"Don't worry, we'll bring her back to you Kensuke."
Kensuke looked up at Mist. She turned and looked at him.
"I promise you that."
Kensuke could barely speak. "Th…Thank-you Mist."
Mist smiled and left.
Kensuke stared at the doorway for a bit longer, then reached into a bag beside his chair and pulled out a crumpled picture. Sayoko smiled at him from the picture.
"Soon……..I'll see you again."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A day later.
Asuka waited beside Shinji, Touji, and Rei. Rei held a phone in her hand.
"You sure about this Devil?" asked Touji.
"Of course I'm sure stooge!" replied Asuka, "It'll work."
"This is MY family you're talking about here. I'm just being absolutely sure……"
"Touji." Asuka turned and looked at him, "Hikari is going to be safe. She has Keiichi, Misato, Ceres, Sigel, and Banpei watching her. Cayla will be there soon as well. Don't worry."
Touji shook his head. "Alright."
Asuka glanced at Rei, "Ready?"
Rei muttered something in the phone and listened to the reply. She then looked at Asuka.
"They're ready."
Asuka nodded then closed her eyes.
* Alright. Let's bring Sayoko home! *
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucy knelt on the rooftop across the street, staring at the apartment building that the goddesses lived in. She had searched the city and found no sign of her target. Only this building remained dark to her. She could sense nothing in it. That did not bother her. She would stay until she found her target.
Movement by the apartments entrance caught her attention. Two young girls ran out of the doors, followed by a brown haired woman. Lucy smiled. Her target was on its way. She moved silently along the rooftop, following the woman. She knew exactly where she was going. It was something from her previous self's memory. Those memories had proven very useful. The target was now entering the park with her children. Lucy smiled. There was no one else around. Her senses where still dark, but that didn't matter.
She would succeed this time.
She leaped off the roof and landed in a crouch just outside the park. She raised her hands and formed a force bolt. The 2 children began to scream. Their mother turned around just as the force bolt left Lucy's hands.
It was then that Lucy saw the face of the other woman.
'Hikari Suzuhara doesn't have Goddess markings……' a memory told her.
The force bolt slammed into a blue force field that appeared around the other woman. When it had dispersed, the other woman ran at the children, she flashed white for a second, revealing a Goddess with light purple hair. She scooped up the children and vanished.
Lucy was confused. What was going on? If that wasn't her target, where was it?
She stared to turn to leave when she slammed face first into a force field. Lucy frowned and looked around. Just beyond, she could see Belldandy step out in full goddess dress. On either side was Skuld and Urd. Lucy snarled and slammed her fist into the shield trying to break it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skuld felt a bit of Déjà vu. The scene was playing out just like in her dream, with a few differences. Whereas in her dream it had only been her sisters and herself facing Sayoko, they also had Mara and Mist with them as well.
Mara and Mist had formed the shield that had initially captured Sayoko, now it was up to Urd and Skuld to keep the shield up long enough for Belldandy and Peorth to set off the vaccination. Already a Mandela was glowing beneath Sayoko.
So far, everything was going the way Asuka planned. Hikari was still safe in the apartment. Cayla had teleported the kids back after posing as Hikari. And the Guardians should be removing the Soultaker.
"Cutting into the broad darkness, blowing aside tomorrow's evil, upon that which calls wind to the earth………..."
Skuld glanced over at Belldandy. She was floating a foot off the ground. Under Sayoko, the Mandela was starting to glow.
The Vaccination had begun.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demon Lair
Asuka, Shinji, Rei, and Touji appeared inside a dark cavern.
"Is this it?" asked Touji.
"This is where Ceres said it'd be." replied Shinji.
"This doesn't feel right." muttered Rei, "Shouldn't we sense……….something?"
"Yeah," replied Asuka, "It's spooky. But I haven't been in any other Demon lairs so who knows."
They walked quietly along the cavern for several minutes, finally stopping at a intersection. The cave continued off to the right and left.
"What do we do now?" asked Touji.
"We split up." Asuka glanced at the others. "Touji and Rei go right. Shinji and I will go left. Shout if you run into anything."
The other three nodded, then each group went their separate way.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heaven
Peorth floated just over the SysOp platform, facing towards the screen with her eyes closed.
"……..with that light of hope, gather the past, present, a future, rescue us from the hands of evil and banish them back to darkness…….."
Erie, Chronos, and X watched Peorth silently, and prayed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tokyo-2
Park
Sayoko snarled and slammed her fist into the shield. Urd, Skuld, Mist, and Mara all struggled to keep the shield up.
"...I order you...BEGONE!"
There was a bright flash and a sphere of light descended downward from the heavens. The sphere engulfed Sayoko. Sayoko's eyes went wide under the visor and her mouth opened, releasing a heart-rending scream.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heavens
Sparks shot out of several of the consoles, forcing the operators to cover their eyes. Peorth was knocked off her feet as the entire building rocked. Alarms screamed all over the building.
"What happened!?" shouted Peorth, "What's going on?!?"
"System overload!" shouted Chronos, "Something's causing massive feedback in the system!"
"What about Sayoko?!?!?"
"I don't know!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demon's Lair
Asuka stared blankly at the chair, throne really. They could tell the demon had been there, a dark presence around the chair confirmed that. But if she was in the lair, she wasn't in this area.
"We should probably go to Touji and Rei right now." said Asuka, "They might be in trouble."
"Don't bother."
Asuka looked up to see Touji and Rei entering the room. Rei had a strange look on her face, Touji just looked really pissed.
"She's not here Asuka." said Touji, "But we found something…….."
"What?" asked Asuka.
"There's a bunch of rooms back that way. Cells." A very hard look appeared on Touji's face. "We found the one Sayoko was in. Still had her blood everywhere."
Asuka and Shinji paled.
"Are you sure it was her?" Asuka asked weakly.
Touji looked over at Rei. Rei held out something she had been holding carefully in her hands.
It was a long pony tail, tied the way Sayoko and her mother usually tied their hair up, the exact same color as Sayoko's hair. All four stared silently at the hair for a moment. Then Touji broke the silence.
"So where the hell is this demon?"
"I don't……." Asuka's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh shit……"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toyko-2
The Morisato/Wishbringer Apartment
Misato's gun barked as she fired shot after shot at the demon. Cayla, Sigel, and Banpei lay in a heap on the floor, the first to fall against the Soultaker. Ceres lay bleeding against Keiichi who was against the wall, both unconscious. Skuld's hammer lay broken nearby. Seeing the young Goddess and both of Skuld's mechs tossed aside by the demon, Keiichi had taken up the hammer and tried to smack the Soultaker with it. She avoided the blow, and tossed Keiichi against the wall. She followed up with a force bolt, but Ceres leaped in the way, taking the bolt in her chest.
The Soultaker ignored Misato's hand gun, the bullets uselessly being deflected by a red shield. Misato was standing in front of Hikari who was clutching both of her children to her chest. Misato finally ran out of bullets. The Soultaker smiled and shoved Misato hard to the floor next to Hikari. The Soultaker smiled as she looked over the mortals, finally turning to the one she required.
"Time for the pain." She said cheerily as she raised her hand.
The hand began to glow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toyko-2
Park
The four Guardians appeared outside the park. They raced along the sidewalk and the row of bushes lining it towards the entrance. When they reached it they came to a complete halt.
The first thing they noticed was that someone was singing and that person was struggling to choke back sobs. A group of people stood around two on the ground. The four Guardians slowly walked up. Two of them turned, Mist and Mara. Mist's face was devoid of emotion, but her eyes said it all, she was hurting. Mara had tears running down her cheeks, something that few expected to see from a demon. Asuka felt a sense of dread in her stomach as she moved between them. Urd and Skuld were trying hard not to cry as they looked down at their sister. Belldandy sat on the ground, tears falling from her eyes as she sang to her daughter, Sayoko, whose head lay on her lap. Sayoko was staring off towards the sky, her eyes blinking every once in a while, but they had no focus. One thought hit Asuka as she looked down at Sayoko.
'Mein Gott……..she's a doll…….'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morisato/Wishbringer Apartment
The Soultaker had left, getting what she had come there for. Of the 9 people in the apartment, 2 where deactivated, 3 were in need of serious medical attention, 3 were scared out of their minds……….
And one was dead.
The oldest of those able to do so struggled towards the phone, her legs refusing to work. She grabbed the receiver and looked over the speed dial numbers, hitting one.
The phone rang four times before someone picked up.
"Yggdrasil Control, SysOp Peorth spe………."
"HELP!!!" screamed Hikari, "WE NEED HELP!!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEELE Base
The Soultaker practically skipped as she walked through the security gate and into the base. An elevator quickly took her down to the level she requested. She stepped out and skipped along into the massive hanger bay. One lone man waited for her.
"I assume you have completed the job?" Keel asked.
The Soultaker smiled, "One Misato Ryoji soul for you."
Keel smiled, "Put her with the others."
The Soultaker skipped along, past 4 massive white figures before stopping at a large red sphere. She placed her hand against it. Within seconds the sphere was glowing from within and she removed her hand. Keel smiled then waved his hand. Technicians raced in and swarmed over the object.
"I want that core installed as soon as possible." He ordered.
"Yes sir!" replied the Head Tech.
Keel smiled. His smile got even bigger as the Demon approached him.
"Care to join me for a celebration drink?" he asked.
"It would be my pleasure." replied the demon.
Arm in arm, the two headed towards the elevator.