I tried
to kill the pain
but only brought more
I lay dying
and I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal
I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming
am I too lost to be saved
am I too lost?
my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation
my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation
do you remember me
lost for so long
will you be on the other side
or will you forget me
I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming
am I too lost to be saved
am I too lost?
my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation
my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation
my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation
my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation
my wounds cry for the grave
my soul cries for deliverance
will I be denied Christ
tourniquet
my suicide
Evanescence - Tourniquet
Chapter 16
The entire room shuddered as something heavy slammed into the floor in one of the other exhibit halls. Touji looked up above, watching as several suspended objects rocked. Lorelei and Lime were also looking about the room. Touji let out a sigh and rested his head against the computer.
"Sayoko-sama, what is going on over there?" he muttered.
"Sounds like they collapsed an entire….." Lime started to say before Lorelei covered her mouth.
"Shush, Lime." Lorelei said, "I'm sure they can handle it."
"Yeah. I hope so." Touji replied. He then glanced at the screen. "Looks like it's ready." He looked at the other two. "Urd-sama leave the disk?"
Lorelei held up the object in question and placed it into the Norn terminal. Within seconds the data it contained flew across the screen. However there was one problem, it was in the God's language.
"Great." muttered Lorelei, "We can't even read it."
Touji looked at it curiously before typing several commands into the terminal.
"Maybe we can. After all, all language has a basis somewhere." Touji looked at the others. "Maybe we can translate it."
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Father Anderson stared in shock at the demon before him. Dozens of eyes stared back at him from the vampires body. The Priest had fought many of these demonic monsters over the years, never had he seen one do this. Back at the entrance, he could see the Heathen Goddess, as well as the other monster and the 'Angel'. Two other women he didn't recognize were also standing there. One, a red head, seemed to be staring at Arucard in shock.
"I have the will of God on my side!" Anderson shouted. He flung his arms out. Hundreds of prayer papers flew towards the walls, each held there by a blade. "I will defeat you, monster!"
Arucard smiled. Each of the prayer papers ignited into flames. "We shall see, Human."
One of Arucard's arms morphed, transforming into a dog's head, a head that had six eyes. Anderson's eyes widened slightly.
"Mother of God……" he muttered softly.
"God is no longer on your side!" Arucard shouted, "Tonight you meet the Devil!" The dog's head growled and flew towards Anderson. The father dodged the head and brought his blade down, slicing it off. The head hit the floor of the hall, and splattered into a puddle of blood. Immediately the blood oozed its way back and rejoined Arucard.
"What kind of monster are you?!?!" Anderson shouted.
"The kind that will end your pitiful existence!" Arucard roared.
The entire room went dark until all Anderson could see was the outline of Arucard in front of him and the doorway where the women stood. Suddenly Arucard's outline seemed to explode and vanish. Eyes appeared all around Anderson, following his every move. The sound of paws padding around on the ground reached his ears. Anderson turned about, but saw nothing but the eyes. Something growled off to his right. He whirled about and caught sight of gleaming white fangs before they vanished.
"The Lord is my Shepherd, " Anderson muttered. "He lets me rest in fields of green grass, and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water."
Something growled behind him. Anderson swiped at the darkness with his blade, but hit nothing.
"…..Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me." Anderson swiped at the darkness. "Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me."
There was a sudden tug on his left arm. Anderson turned to swipe at it when he realized something: his left arm was no longer there. Another growl. Anderson turned about, swiping madly at the darkness with his remaining blade. With a growl, a dog leaped out of the darkness, it's six eyes burning red. With a snap, Anderson's remaining arm was removed. The dog then vanished into the dark. Anderson stared for a moment at the spot where his arm had been. He then turned slowly and met the eyes of the Heathen Goddess.
"……I put my hope in him." Anderson said quietly, "He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated."
A loud roar caused Anderson to turn to his right. He saw teeth, then nothing.
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Asuka turned around and looked like she was about to be violently ill. Even Celes, who had seen Arucard do some pretty horrific things, looked sick. Sayoko and Urd's faces remained blank as the Vampire approached them.
"The Target has been silenced." Arucard muttered softly.
Urd stared at him for a moment before turning on her heel and walking away. Asuka and Arael both followed, not even glancing at the Vampire.
"Well, Goddess? Aren't you angry?" Arucard said with a slight smirk. "I killed your Priest."
Sayoko remained silent.
Seeing the Goddess was not going to be much fun, Arucard looked at his fledgling.
"I would like to speak with you, Police Girl." He glanced over at Sayoko. "Alone."
Celes looked back at Sayoko before nervously turning to face her Master.
"No, Master," Celes said. "Anything you have to say can be said in front of her."
"You know she is a Holy Creature? The total opposite of what we are?" Seeing Celes nod, he continued. "Yet you still wish for her to be present?"
"Yes, Master."
Arucard glanced at the Goddess for a moment, then turned back to Celes.
"You know that we have a connection," He said. "We are linked by the bond that was formed the day I turned you."
"Yes, Master."
"It is time for that bond to be broken," Arucard said. "You have survived on your own for several hundred years, thus, you no longer require my presence and have not required my presence." He held out his arm and moved the sleeve back to reveal his bare skin. "It is time for you to drink my blood, and receive your full heritage and power."
Celes looked wide-eyed at Arucard, then looked back at Sayoko.
"Don't look at me," Sayoko said softly. "It's your choice. Not mine."
Celes turned and looked back at Arucard before stepping towards him. Then, with her fangs bared, she bent forward and bit into his arm. His blood ran down from the puncture marks, before dripping to the floor. Sayoko closed her eyes and turned around. She heard Celes gasp slightly, and soon felt a second dark presence as Celes' new powers took hold.
Arucard lowered his arm.
"You are now a true Nosferatu," Arucard said. "My equal."
"Yes Master."
"I am no longer your Master, Police Girl." Arucard turned and began to walk away. He stopped for a moment and faced her again. "Take care, Celes Victoria." He then vanished into the shadows.
Celes watched the shadow a moment longer before looking back at Sayoko.
"Are you mad at me?" Celes asked.
Sayoko opened her eyes. "I already told you once before that you were an abomination. Nothing has changed that." Sayoko smiled. "But you're still my friend."
"But I'm evil."
Sayoko sighed. "No, Celes. You aren't evil. You have never been evil."
"But I can feel it," Celes said. "I can feel the darkness within me."
"But would you act on that darkness?"
"No!" Celes practically shouted.
"Everyone has a bit of darkness in them," Sayoko said. "Even the gods. Look at Mara. She's a demon, yet she hasn't done anything bad in over 5 centuries. Even in the Dark, light can be found." Sayoko grabbed Celes' arm. "Now come on. We still have a virus to sort out."
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Sayoko and Celes reentered the Angel War exhibit to find Urd, Lorelei and Touji deep in conversation. Urd noticed Sayoko and immediately waved her over.
"You're not going to believe this," Urd said.
"What?" asked Sayoko.
"Touji and Lorelei ran the virus through the computer here," Urd said. "We know who made the virus."
"Who?"
"Our old friend Loki."
"LOKI!?!?" Sayoko shouted. She then frowned. "But he's dead! Isn't he?"
"No one has ever survived being hit by Gungir," Urd said. "No, this was something in his private files area."
"How'd it get out?"
"The Archiving must have activated it," Urd replied. "At least we now know why we weren't infected."
"Why not?" asked Lorelei. "And who is Loki?"
"Loki was a Norse God on the Heavenly Council who really disliked half-breed Gods," Sayoko said. "He felt it weakened the gods as a whole. He also thought that the mortals here on earth were out of control and wished to bring order to them by ruling them."
"He made this virus five hundred years ago that stripped all the Gods of their powers," Urd added. "Then attacked Heaven with an Army of Demons as well as five Evas. Heaven fell. But he neglected to do something when he made his virus."
"He was so hooked on the Purity of the Gods," Sayoko continued, "that his virus only stripped the powers of Pure Gods. Half-breeds and converted Demons still had their powers."
"My Mother is the Queen of Hell," Urd said. "Sayoko's father was a mortal, so we weren't infected."
"Wait a second." Lorelei held up her hand. "If that's so, why did Keima get infected? He's her brother."
"Dad was no longer a mortal when Keima was conceived," Sayoko said. "He was technically a spirit, and Keima was conceived in heaven, so he's 100% pure God." Sayoko then looked at Urd. "So can we get rid of the virus?"
Urd scanned over the information on the virus.
"I don't know," She replied. "Loki designed this to look like it belong in the system."
Lorelei looked up. "What if we made a virus along similar lines as this one that reversed everything?"
"Yeah," added Touji. "It shouldn't be too hard to modify the virus to do that."
Urd nodded. "It's worth a shot. Besides……this is the easy part."
"Easy part? What's the hard part?"
"Heaven is currently being held by 'Mad' Gods," Sayoko said. "In order to get this program into Yggdrasil, we still have to get by them."
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Terra 2
Lime (the mortal) sat across from Kensuke, looking over her cards carefully. Rei and Yui sat on either side of them while Ceres watched.
"Any threes?" asked Lime.
"Go fish," replied Rei.
Lime let out a curse and pulled out another card from the pile. Over at the bar, Bloodberry and Cherry watched them.
"Is that all they're going to do?" Bloodberry asked. "Play 'Go Fish'?"
"They did want to play something else," Cherry muttered quietly.
"Oh, really? What was that?"
"Strip Poker."
Bloodberry coughed. "WHAT!?!? Who came up with that?!? Mr. Aida?"
Cherry shook her head. "It was Ms. Ikari."
Bloodberry turned her head and stared at the blue haired Guardian.
"It's always the quiet ones."
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Earth
Neo-Tokyo (formerly Tokyo-2/3)
"There!" Urd pulled out the disk and held it up. "The God Restoration Disk Mk. 1!"
Sayoko looked over at Asuka.
"Very Auntie Skuld-like."
"Very," agreed Asuka. "Does Skuld know you rip off her ideas?"
"Oh, shut up," Urd said. She glanced over at Lorelei, Lime (the marionette) and Celes. "Ready to go?"
"Yes," The three said together.
"Don't suppose you could fix the damage in the other wing before you go?" Touji asked. "It'll be kinda hard to explain."
Urd sighed and muttered a spell. She then looked at Touji. "Happy?"
"Yes." Touji turned and walked up to Sayoko. "See you next Christmas?"
Sayoko smiled and nodded.
"Of course," She said. "And I might have someone other then Celes next time."
"Right." Touji glanced over at Celes. "You take care of her."
"Of course I will," Celes replied.
Touji stepped backward as Arael closed her eyes in concentration. With a flash, the 7 women vanished.
"Good luck," Touji whispered softly.
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Terra 2
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" shouted Lime. "NOT AGAIN!!"
The game of 'Go Fish' had now become a game of 'Old Maid'. Unfortunately, Lime wasn't very good at it. Rei just smiled as she reshuffled the cards.
"Let's see…..That's the 8th time you've been the old maid."
Lime glared at Rei. "At least I have someone!"
Rei's smile vanished as she leaped to her feet. Yui and Ceres quickly moved between the two.
"Easy!" Kensuke said. "We're all friends here."
"She didn't mean it, Auntie Rei," Yui said. "Calm down."
Rei continued to glare at Lime before finally allowing her niece to sit her back down. Almost immediately she was back on her feet as Sayoko, Asuka, Urd, Arael, Celes, Lorelei and the Marionette Lime reappeared.
"Well?" asked Yui.
Urd held up a disk. "We have a solution! Now for the hard part: getting this disk into Yggdrasil and loading it."
"So lets go!"
"No," Asuka said. "You, Rei and Ceres are staying put."
"WHAT!??! WHY!?!?"
"Keima is still here. If he gets loose…….. Besides: You're still grounded."
"Alright, alright…." Yui sighed. "I never get to have fun."
"What about Sayoko?" Kensuke asked.
Sayoko frowned. "What about me?"
"Well, you're….."
"What's that got to do with anything!?!"
"He's right, Sayoko," Celes said softly. "Anderson almost got you."
Sayoko sighed and closed her eyes.
"I know he did. But I still have to go with." She turned and looked at Kensuke. "Yggdrasil will only respond to Urd or myself. I have to go."
Kensuke stared at her a moment longer before nodding.
"Fine. But Celes goes with you."
Sayoko glanced over at Celes.
"You think you can handle a trip upstairs?" she asked.
"Is it alright?" Celes asked nervously. "I mean….I'm…..you know….."
Sayoko shrugged. "I don't think anyone will mind. And if they do…" A smile appeared on the goddess' face. "I'll tell them to talk to Grandpa."
"Right!" Urd said. "Now that that is settled, let's get to Yggdrasil. The sooner the virus is gone, the sooner things can get back to normal around here."
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Upstairs in his room, Keima stared out from his Icy prison. His eyes burned red with hate and anger. His mind raced through plan after plan for freeing himself.
Eventually, he would figure a way out.
And then he would have his revenge.
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Heaven
Urd, Sayoko, Asuka, Celes and Arael appeared within the garden next to the Yggdrasil building. The skies were black from both smoke and cloud cover.
"Lovely," muttered Sayoko. "Love what they've done with the place."
"Dammit," muttered Asuka. "I was hoping to get us inside the building."
"Not your fault," Urd said. "Yggdrasil was set up to keep people from teleporting in." She glanced back at Arael. "Mostly because of Arael and her friends' sudden appearance."
"Well, let's go." Sayoko started towards the main building but stopped when Celes grabbed her arm.
"Wait," She said softly. "There's something watching us."
The others looked around.
"I don't see anything," Asuka said.
"Me either," added Urd.
"She's right," Arael said. "Someone is watching us."
Sayoko let out a sigh. "Great. As if it wasn't bad enough, now we have a mad stalker."
"Mad Killer Stalker." Sayoko looked over at Celes who was peering into a bush. She walked over to see what Celes was looking at. She immediately turned away and fell to her knees, extremely pale and feeling very ill.
"What?" asked Urd. She walked over as well. "Oh….my…..goddess…."
Asuka walked over and looked into the bush. Just barely hidden by the branches was the body of a god. It had been brutally cut in two at the waist, his insides oozing out into the ground. The face was one of extreme agony. It appeared that the God had tried to push his organs back inside during his last moments.
"What could cause…….?" Asuka asked.
"Looks like an Ax," Celes said.
"How can you tell?" Sayoko asked from where she was kneeling on the ground.
"One time while hunting Ghouls I ran out of ammo," Celes said. "There was a fire ax handy, and……"
"Ok, ok. I get the picture." Sayoko stood up and started walking towards the Main Building. "Remind me to never ask you about…….."
"LOOK OUT!!!!"
Sayoko felt something slam into her from behind, knocking her back to the ground. At the same time, she felt a slight breeze just over her head. As she hit the ground she heard a kind of thunking noise. Seconds later something landed on her back……followed by something moist.
"What the….." began Sayoko before something fell next to her. Sayoko's eye widened. That something was a body………a headless body…….which meant……. Sayoko sat up and stared behind her. Celes' blank face stared back at her.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!" Sayoko screamed, then realized there was a person standing nearby. There, struggling to remove an Ax from a tree was a fully armored Goddess. Sayoko knew who it was from the outfit and markings.
"LIND?!?!"
Lind ripped the Ax out of the tree and turned her gaze towards Sayoko. Lind's red eyes bored into her. Sayoko stared stunned, Celes blood soaking into her robes. Lind raised the Ax above her head, ready to split the young goddess in two. Before Lind could complete the stroke, a red blur slammed into the Valkyrie.
"RUN, DAMMIT!!" shouted Asuka.
Urd and Arael grabbed the still stunned Sayoko and ran towards the main building. Asuka and Lind both glared at the other, circling the ground slowly.
"You've never defeated me before," Lind said, "and I wasn't even trying…..What makes you think you'll win now?"
"It's been 200 years since we fought last," Asuka replied. "Maybe I've learned a few things."
"Perhaps." Lind whipped her ax around her head a few times before assuming an offensive pose.
Asuka assumed a fighting stance as well.
"Let's dance," She said softly.
Neither noticed that Celes' body had vanished.
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"But Celes……!" Sayoko shouted.
"We can't help her now!" Urd shouted. "We need to get to Yggdrasil."
She, Sayoko and Arael ran over the bridge that led to the main entrance of the Yggdrasil Building. They raced through the main entry hall and stopped just in front of the elevators. Urd hit a call button and waited. With a ding, the doors to her left opened. Urd started through the doors before her eyes noticed something.
There was no car, just empty shaft.
"GAH!!" Urd shouted as she started to fall forward. Just as quickly, her forward motion stopped. She was soon back in the entry hall, looking up at Arael.
"You are lucky I have quick reflexes," Arael said.
"Yeah." Urd stood up and looked down the shaft. Far below the red of flames could just be seen. "Guess we take the stairs."
"HEY!! THEY'RE OVER HERE!!"
The three turned to see Chronos standing at the other end of the entry hall. She was soon joined by Peorth, Camilla, X, Erie and a dozen other gods and goddesses.
"Oh, shit," muttered Urd as the group charged towards them.
Arael stepped forward.
"I will handle them," She said quietly. She waved her hand. An orange wave raced across the hall, knocking the charging gods to the floor. Arael glanced back at Sayoko and Urd.
"Get to Yggdrasil."
Urd immediately ran off. Sayoko looked at Arael for a moment longer before following her Aunt.
Arael smiled at the retreating Goddess before turning to face the group of Angry Deities that was just getting back on their feet.
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Terra 2
"Gin!"
"DAMMIT!"
Lime kicked over the table, sending cards flying everywhere.
"NO MORE CARDS!!" she shouted. "You're too good, and I think you're reading my mind!"
"I wouldn't do that," Rei replied.
"I would," muttered Yui. Ceres snickered.
"Why don't you play something else?" Cherry suggested from behind the counter of the bar.
"Something that doesn't involve cards and is exciting," Lime said.
Yui suddenly straightened up and pulled out a game box.
"How about Life Sugoroku Special?"
Rei and Ceres narrowed their eyes and glared at Yui.
"What are you doing with that?" Rei asked.
"Aunt Urd gave it to me."
"Right. There is no way in hell we are going to play that."
"Why not?"
"Urd rigged the spinner. I spent most of the game in my underwear and I'm not about to tell you what your parents had to do. Pick something else."
"But I wanna play Life Sugoroku Special!!"
"NO!"
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Heavens
Urd and Sayoko flew up the stairs, higher and higher towards the level of the Yggdrasil Control room. Behind them they could hear the explosions as Arael held back the possessed gods.
"How many more levels?" Sayoko asked.
"Another 25," Urd replied.
"Good. I hate the stairs."
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A bit later
"This landing!" Urd shouted.
Urd flew off down the hallway with Sayoko just behind her. Urd could just see the large doors to the control room when a figure stepped out. Urd instantly stopped in her tracks, causing Sayoko to plow right into her.
"OW!" cried Sayoko. "Why'd you stop, Urd?"
Urd stared at the figure in front of them.
"We have a bit of a problem."
"What is it?" Sayoko said as she looked down the corner. Her eyes widened as she spotted the figure blocking their path.
"Auntie Skuld?!"
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Author's notes.
Sorry about how long it took to get this chapter out. I started a new job and it's just been wiping me out.
Thanks to my Prereaders…..strange that the guy in the desert got to me faster then the rest.
Get out of there safely LD.
Ok
Life Sugoroku Special: The most evil game in the universe. Urd brought the game out in the manga at least once and tried to do so a second time. Basically whatever you land on happens. (also Urd cursed the spinner)
Let's see…..if memory serves…. Otaki was chased by a small dog, Sayoko Mishima Stripped down in front of everyone. Belldandy was called 'Momma' (Tamiya and Otaki both thought Keiichi had gotten her pregnant), Keiichi had to sweep the yard of snow in just a t-shirt and pants, Megumi kept getting 'Skip a turn' (she was probably the lucky one). Belldandy figured it out and eventually won the game……then warmed up Keiichi by planting a rather passionate kiss on him (ok….so maybe Megumi wasn't the only lucky one)
OMAKE
Evil Villain Auditions #2
Gendo Ikari, The Soultaker and Draco are all sitting behind a table.
"NEXT!" shouted out Draco.
Two people, a male and a female, walk in along with a cat. The Male and female both wear matching white uniforms with a red 'R' on their chest.
Gendo assumes his standard position, head resting on interlaced finger, glaring through his glasses.
"And you are?"
"Thought you'd never ask!" the woman said. "To protect the world from devastation….."
"…to Unite all people within our nation…" the male added.
"….to denounce the evils of truth and love…."
"…to extend our reach to the stars above…"
"Jesse."
"James."
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
The cat then jumped up on the desk.
"MEOWTH! That's right!"
Gendo, Soultaker, and Draco all look at each other.
"Well did we get the part?" James asked.
"No," Gendo replied.
"You're just not evil enough," Draco added.
"And I personally find you repulsive," The Soultaker added.
"PLEASE!!!!!!!" James, Jesse, and Meowth got on their knees and pleaded. "We need the work! We've got expenses! And the boss doesn't pay all that much!"
Gendo looked over at the Soultaker. "Would you mind?"
"Not at all." The Soultaker snapped her fingers. A lightning bolt ripped through the ceiling and slammed into Team Rocket. The three were sent flying through the air.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!!!" they cried.
The judges let out a sigh.
"NEXT!" shouted Draco.
A man in a dark cape and large black floppy hat walked towards them. His face was partially covered by a white mask and he wore a tuxedo under the cape.
"And you are?" asked Gendo.
Loud organ music thundered in the room from unseen speakers.
"I am," the man said, "The Phantom of the Opera!"
"The Phantom of the Opera?" the three judges looked at each other.
"Why are you here?" asked The Soultaker.
"I'm auditioning for the part of Villain in the next NG: Goddess fic of course!"
"But…….why?!"
"They fight Angels in the story, don't they?"
"Yes." Draco replied, wondering where this was going.
"Well…. I am the 'Angel of Music'!"