Part 11: Ragnorak
All stared in horror as Nidheg sprouted from the ground, but the true horror had yet to come.
"What...what's going on here?" Hope stared with fear, as the tree grew taller and taller.
"You may have destroyed my body, but my soul lives on, within this very tree!" Hands formed from the branches and a torso from which a head formed. "Ragnorak is so near, I can feel it's dark reigns in my grasp!" He roared with laughter.
"No...this...this can't be happening..." Mara stared.
"Hybrid! Come to me! Spill your precious blood upon Nidheg's roots!" He roared and shot vines after her.
"Hope! Get out of here!" Mara shoved her out of the way. "HELLFIRE THUNDER BLAST!" She destroyed the vines only to see more emerge.
"Destructive Booming Thunder!" Urd shot her hand forward and destroyed the rest.
"Try all you can! But you cannot protect her for long!"
"My brothers and sisters!" Mara shouted. "Open your eyes, can't you see what will happen to us if Surt's Ragnorak takes place?"
Demons stared in confusion.
"If Nidheg absorbs Hope's blood, we will all die from the overflow of power! You've got to believe me!"
"SILENCE!" Surt shot vines around her body and started to crush her.
"MARA!" Hope called forth her blade and tried to cut her loose.
"Look! Why else would he need to silence me!? I'm telling you the truth!!" Mara coughed. "So please! Everyone! You've got to stop him before it's too late!"
"Silence your tongue or I'll remove it myself!" A vine hardened into a spike and shot towards her.
"NOOO!" Hope jumped in its way.
"HOPE!" Urd, Skuld and Mara cried as the vine shot through her chest.
Hope stared out as if in denial for a moment before screaming out in pain.
"FOOL!" Surt laughed and quickly snapped Hope into the middle of the tree.
"Now spill! Spill your precious blood!" Thorns sprouted from the vines that tied around her arms and legs and cut deep into her skin, making her blood poor down her body and down the tree.
"No....NO!!" Hope stared up at the shocked Demons and Gods. "I...I can't fail them...." She tugged at her restraints only to have her cuts deepen.
"HOPE!" Urd and Skuld cried out.
The almighty sat at his throne and tilted his head into his hand. "Forgive me Belldandy." He sighed painfully. "If only there was something I could have done... If only it wasn't her. Why did it have to be your daughter? Why?" He asked but knew that Hope was the only one who ever deserved such power and such a title. "It seems...that there is only one option left."
Peorth and the three goddesses stared in shock at their monitors; Nidheg's power source was steadily beginning to grow stronger and stronger.
"What's happening!?" Elle stared.
"I've...I've never seen anything as...as powerful." Ex stammered.
"Everyone!" Peorth said. "Quickly, we've got to get the system running on full!"
"But Miss Peorth...."
"Just do as I say...If Nidheg should malfunction we have to be ready to maintain its side effects on the Earth!!" Peorth shouted.
"Okay!" They quickly got to work.
"Hope, somebody help her please!" Peorth thought to herself.
Tyr's eyes slowly opened and he stared up at the giant black tree before him. "What.... what is this...." He stood up and saw red streams flow down into the ground. "Blood?" His eyes widened and he stared up its roots to see Hope's body tied up in the trees vines. "Hope.... HOPE!!" He cried out and quickly staggered to his feet. "I'M COMING!!" He shouted and bounded up into the air.
"I feel it! I FEEL THE POWER!" Surt roared with laughter.
"Aaah...AAARGH!" Mara twitched then moaned in pain.
"What's happening!?" Skuld stared.
"The power..." Urd grabbed her body. "It's too great...."
"Urd!" Skuld stared.
"I'll be fine.... just get Hope off of the tree! Hurry!" Urd groaned in pain.
"Right!" Skuld held her mallet up and charged forward only to get swatted aside by Surt's mighty hand. "AGH!! You Jerk!" She cursed. "I'm not going to let you kill my niece!"
"Everyone! We have to save Hope! HURRY!" Thor roared out and led on the godly charge at the tree.
"How pathetic, you heaven bound immortals are no match for my power!" Millions of vines and energy beams stuck out at them.
No! Stop it!" Hope started to make the vines snap as she tugged away from the tree.
"Hope!" Tyr flew up to her and pulled out his dagger. "You're going to be okay, just hold on!"
"Tyr..." Hope smiled. "I'll try." She said as he cut her loose.
"I can't believe this maniac is my father...what was Mom thinking!?" He growled as he snapped one of the vines on her arms loose.
"Your symbols..."
"Don't worry, I'll get my godhood back, but first I need to get you..."
"It's okay Tyr..."
"Eh?" He stared at her for a moment after snapping her other arm free.
"I'm...not going to..."
"Stop! You're going to be...Ah?" He was shocked when Hope leaned forward and gave him a hug. "What are you...?"
"Thank you Tyr... I'm sorry for being such a pest, but you know, I didn't really want to give up my old life for this...I wanted to stay as a normal mortal girl, but I had to find to find the answers to what I was missing...and I had to find my mother...but it looks like I'll never answer my questions, and I'll never see her again...but because of you, I trained hard everyday and got as far as I did, thank you Tyr, I know I never could have kept on going without your discouraging words that urged me to keep on fighting." Hope smiled
"Stop, you...you need to save your energy Hope!" He snapped another vine loose then felt a sudden pain throughout his body.
"TYR!" Surt struck him aside with a vine.
"Tyr!" Hope cried then glared up at Surt's evil face. "I don't grant you the right for this revolution...Stop now or I shall bring forth your punishment with my own two hands!!"
"It doesn't matter what you want, I have your blood!!" He roared with laughter as the tree grew towards the heavens.
"You.... You have to stop..." Hope heard the moans of pain from all the demons, and then from Urd and Tyr, which made the pain in her heart, grow deeper. "STOP IT!"
"What!?" Surt stopped rising, the blood started to flow away from the roots and back to Hope's body.
"NO! NOOOO!" Surt shouted with rage and made the thorns pierce deeper into her skin.
"If.... If I don't stop him now...he'll kill the whole demon race, and if that happens...the heavens and Yggdrasill will vanish as well! Life will cease and the universe will vanish into a void!!" Hope thought with rage. "I won't let that happen!"
"Hope...my granddaughter."
".... Grandfather?" Hope stared up in shock.
"Forgive me Hope, I have been aware of this fate that has been placed upon your shoulders from your very first breath. I could not change it then nor can I change it now, however...you have a much greater will than my own, and the power to change the hands of fate. If you cherish the lives of the heavens, hell, and Earth.... perhaps you can change their fate just as prophesized."
"How can I?"
"Collect your blood and form a shield around Nidheg, I shall access Gungir and fire it down upon Surt, but the after shock from the blast will destroy your life force. If you are not willing to make this sacrifice, then everything you see before you will vanish."
Hope stared up at the warn gods and the suffering demons. "I...I don't want them to hurt anymore..."
"Hope, now is the time..."
Hope looked down and smiled slightly. "I... I am Hope Morisato, daughter of Keiichi and Belldandy Morisato, I rank as goddess second class with no restrictions, and I am she who is destined to become...no, I AM the goddess of Revolution! And as such, I will sacrifice my life for the sake of the universe and everyone that lives within it!!"
Beautiful Melody emerged from Hope's chest and stared at her with running tears.
"Melody, Collect the blood I've lost from the tree! Hurry!"
The angel nodded and formed an orb in her hands.
"What.... what's happening!?" Surt felt his power vanishing again.
Melody's orb turned red, and Hope felt a cold chill all over her body.
"Th... thank...y...you...Melody..." Hope shivered.
The angel wrapped her arms around her and sobbed.
"Hurry Melody, get as far away from the tree as you can...." Hope gathered her strength and stared up at the sky.
System locks in Yggdrasill unlocked and opened.
"What's happening!?" Peorth stared.
"Someone is accessing Gungir!" Ex shouted.
"What.... what have you done!? What have you done with all my precious power!?" Surt roared in rage.
Hope only glared up at him with a weak grin. "Your power?" She asked and laughed. "That's a new one!"
"Authorize..." The Almighty commanded.
*.... Authorized...*
"Confirm Target..."
*Target confirmed.... *
"Take aim..."
*Taking aim...*
"No! Abort program!" Peorth typed in a code.
*Denied*
"No! Stop! Please!!" Peorth cried.
"This is the only way." Hope sighed as a gate opened and a brilliant light shone down on her and Surt.
"That old fool!" Surt roared and started to separate from the tree. "Does he honestly think I'll wait around long enough for that old gun to charge up!?" He laughed.
Hope felt vines move along her hand, but quickly grabbed them and held on tight. "You're not going anywhere...." Hope grinned.
"NO! NOOO!!!
"Melody! Use my blood to form a shield over Nidheg!"
The angel tossed the orb out and a barrier formed around the tree.
"Hope...you will be rewarded greatly for this sacrifice." The almighty said as he hesitantly fired.
From the heavenly portal emerged a giant blue sphere that shown with the light of the sun.
"NO!! STOP IT!! STOP IT!" Surt shouted in fear.
"Hope...we're finally going to be set free.... from all our pain...." Despair's voice echoed within her.
"Yes.... but...all the ones we love.... we're leaving them now..." Tears streamed down her face as the orb neared. "...Everyone.... I love you.... always...."
The orb crashed down on them both.
Surt cried out in agony and vanished into the extreme holy light.
Hope's eyes went blank, the tree's vines released her, and her body fell limp away from the tree.
"Everyone...."
"Hope!" Freya, Ran, Bil, and Balder called.
"I do this..."
"Hope!" Peorth, Tyr, and Thor called.
"For you all..."
"Go Hope Go!!" Akina and her friends cheered.
"Because you're all so very important to me...."
"Hope!" Keima and Takano smiled.
"But most of all...."
"Hey Kid!" Megumi, Chihiro, and the former motor club members smiled.
"Because I love you..."
"Hope!" Urd and Skuld smiled.
"I love you all..."
"Hope!" Keiichi held his arms out to her.
"Always..."
"My precious daughter." Belldandy cradled her in her arms.
"Always..." Hope's body hit the ground, and she stared up to see the sun's light break through the dark clouds. "I did it...." She smiled up at the groups of demons as their pain ended and Nidheg began to merge back down into the ground.
"They're...they're all okay...I'm so happy...." Hope's eyes slowly closed, and her body exhaled.
All the demons stared down in shock.
"She...she...saved us all..." one muttered in disbelief.
"Hope.... HOPE!" Urd and Skuld shot down to the ground and kneeled down to Hope's side.
"Open your eyes! Please Hope!" Skuld cried and shook her body. "Please open your eyes! Everything is okay now! Surt's gone! You did it Hope! You saved everyone! Open your eyes!!" Skuld begged.
"Skuld.... she's.... she's..." Urd was chocking on the words.
"No!" Skuld cried. "We promised Belldandy that we'd protect her! We promised!" Skuld dug her fingers in the dirt as tears forced through her tightly closed eyes.
Thousands descended to the ground around Hope's body, all staring in sadness and disbelief.
"She didn't care...gods or demons... she was fighting for both sides." A goddess sobbed.
"She gave us a second chance." A demon stared at his hands in disbelief that he was alive, but like the others, he wished more than anything that he was the one lying there dead instead of this young hybrid child.
"Hope..." Tyr staggered through the crowd and stared at her.
"Tyr..." Urd looked back over at him with tears rolling down her face.
"H...Hope..." he dropped to his knees by her side. "Wh....why...why did you...."
Tears streamed down his face when he saw that all the life had vanished from her face. "HOPE!!!"
Hope's soul drifted up from her body, it pained her to see everyone crying over her, but she knew that they were alive, and that's all that really mattered to her. "Good bye..." She whispered as a tunnel of light shone down on her.
"Hope...it is time." The Almighty's voice echoed.
Hope took one last look at the union of light and dark and smiled. "Good bye." Wings arched from her back and she flew away, into the heavenly light.
All stared in horror as Nidheg sprouted from the ground, but the true horror had yet to come.
"What...what's going on here?" Hope stared with fear, as the tree grew taller and taller.
"You may have destroyed my body, but my soul lives on, within this very tree!" Hands formed from the branches and a torso from which a head formed. "Ragnorak is so near, I can feel it's dark reigns in my grasp!" He roared with laughter.
"No...this...this can't be happening..." Mara stared.
"Hybrid! Come to me! Spill your precious blood upon Nidheg's roots!" He roared and shot vines after her.
"Hope! Get out of here!" Mara shoved her out of the way. "HELLFIRE THUNDER BLAST!" She destroyed the vines only to see more emerge.
"Destructive Booming Thunder!" Urd shot her hand forward and destroyed the rest.
"Try all you can! But you cannot protect her for long!"
"My brothers and sisters!" Mara shouted. "Open your eyes, can't you see what will happen to us if Surt's Ragnorak takes place?"
Demons stared in confusion.
"If Nidheg absorbs Hope's blood, we will all die from the overflow of power! You've got to believe me!"
"SILENCE!" Surt shot vines around her body and started to crush her.
"MARA!" Hope called forth her blade and tried to cut her loose.
"Look! Why else would he need to silence me!? I'm telling you the truth!!" Mara coughed. "So please! Everyone! You've got to stop him before it's too late!"
"Silence your tongue or I'll remove it myself!" A vine hardened into a spike and shot towards her.
"NOOO!" Hope jumped in its way.
"HOPE!" Urd, Skuld and Mara cried as the vine shot through her chest.
Hope stared out as if in denial for a moment before screaming out in pain.
"FOOL!" Surt laughed and quickly snapped Hope into the middle of the tree.
"Now spill! Spill your precious blood!" Thorns sprouted from the vines that tied around her arms and legs and cut deep into her skin, making her blood poor down her body and down the tree.
"No....NO!!" Hope stared up at the shocked Demons and Gods. "I...I can't fail them...." She tugged at her restraints only to have her cuts deepen.
"HOPE!" Urd and Skuld cried out.
The almighty sat at his throne and tilted his head into his hand. "Forgive me Belldandy." He sighed painfully. "If only there was something I could have done... If only it wasn't her. Why did it have to be your daughter? Why?" He asked but knew that Hope was the only one who ever deserved such power and such a title. "It seems...that there is only one option left."
Peorth and the three goddesses stared in shock at their monitors; Nidheg's power source was steadily beginning to grow stronger and stronger.
"What's happening!?" Elle stared.
"I've...I've never seen anything as...as powerful." Ex stammered.
"Everyone!" Peorth said. "Quickly, we've got to get the system running on full!"
"But Miss Peorth...."
"Just do as I say...If Nidheg should malfunction we have to be ready to maintain its side effects on the Earth!!" Peorth shouted.
"Okay!" They quickly got to work.
"Hope, somebody help her please!" Peorth thought to herself.
Tyr's eyes slowly opened and he stared up at the giant black tree before him. "What.... what is this...." He stood up and saw red streams flow down into the ground. "Blood?" His eyes widened and he stared up its roots to see Hope's body tied up in the trees vines. "Hope.... HOPE!!" He cried out and quickly staggered to his feet. "I'M COMING!!" He shouted and bounded up into the air.
"I feel it! I FEEL THE POWER!" Surt roared with laughter.
"Aaah...AAARGH!" Mara twitched then moaned in pain.
"What's happening!?" Skuld stared.
"The power..." Urd grabbed her body. "It's too great...."
"Urd!" Skuld stared.
"I'll be fine.... just get Hope off of the tree! Hurry!" Urd groaned in pain.
"Right!" Skuld held her mallet up and charged forward only to get swatted aside by Surt's mighty hand. "AGH!! You Jerk!" She cursed. "I'm not going to let you kill my niece!"
"Everyone! We have to save Hope! HURRY!" Thor roared out and led on the godly charge at the tree.
"How pathetic, you heaven bound immortals are no match for my power!" Millions of vines and energy beams stuck out at them.
No! Stop it!" Hope started to make the vines snap as she tugged away from the tree.
"Hope!" Tyr flew up to her and pulled out his dagger. "You're going to be okay, just hold on!"
"Tyr..." Hope smiled. "I'll try." She said as he cut her loose.
"I can't believe this maniac is my father...what was Mom thinking!?" He growled as he snapped one of the vines on her arms loose.
"Your symbols..."
"Don't worry, I'll get my godhood back, but first I need to get you..."
"It's okay Tyr..."
"Eh?" He stared at her for a moment after snapping her other arm free.
"I'm...not going to..."
"Stop! You're going to be...Ah?" He was shocked when Hope leaned forward and gave him a hug. "What are you...?"
"Thank you Tyr... I'm sorry for being such a pest, but you know, I didn't really want to give up my old life for this...I wanted to stay as a normal mortal girl, but I had to find to find the answers to what I was missing...and I had to find my mother...but it looks like I'll never answer my questions, and I'll never see her again...but because of you, I trained hard everyday and got as far as I did, thank you Tyr, I know I never could have kept on going without your discouraging words that urged me to keep on fighting." Hope smiled
"Stop, you...you need to save your energy Hope!" He snapped another vine loose then felt a sudden pain throughout his body.
"TYR!" Surt struck him aside with a vine.
"Tyr!" Hope cried then glared up at Surt's evil face. "I don't grant you the right for this revolution...Stop now or I shall bring forth your punishment with my own two hands!!"
"It doesn't matter what you want, I have your blood!!" He roared with laughter as the tree grew towards the heavens.
"You.... You have to stop..." Hope heard the moans of pain from all the demons, and then from Urd and Tyr, which made the pain in her heart, grow deeper. "STOP IT!"
"What!?" Surt stopped rising, the blood started to flow away from the roots and back to Hope's body.
"NO! NOOOO!" Surt shouted with rage and made the thorns pierce deeper into her skin.
"If.... If I don't stop him now...he'll kill the whole demon race, and if that happens...the heavens and Yggdrasill will vanish as well! Life will cease and the universe will vanish into a void!!" Hope thought with rage. "I won't let that happen!"
"Hope...my granddaughter."
".... Grandfather?" Hope stared up in shock.
"Forgive me Hope, I have been aware of this fate that has been placed upon your shoulders from your very first breath. I could not change it then nor can I change it now, however...you have a much greater will than my own, and the power to change the hands of fate. If you cherish the lives of the heavens, hell, and Earth.... perhaps you can change their fate just as prophesized."
"How can I?"
"Collect your blood and form a shield around Nidheg, I shall access Gungir and fire it down upon Surt, but the after shock from the blast will destroy your life force. If you are not willing to make this sacrifice, then everything you see before you will vanish."
Hope stared up at the warn gods and the suffering demons. "I...I don't want them to hurt anymore..."
"Hope, now is the time..."
Hope looked down and smiled slightly. "I... I am Hope Morisato, daughter of Keiichi and Belldandy Morisato, I rank as goddess second class with no restrictions, and I am she who is destined to become...no, I AM the goddess of Revolution! And as such, I will sacrifice my life for the sake of the universe and everyone that lives within it!!"
Beautiful Melody emerged from Hope's chest and stared at her with running tears.
"Melody, Collect the blood I've lost from the tree! Hurry!"
The angel nodded and formed an orb in her hands.
"What.... what's happening!?" Surt felt his power vanishing again.
Melody's orb turned red, and Hope felt a cold chill all over her body.
"Th... thank...y...you...Melody..." Hope shivered.
The angel wrapped her arms around her and sobbed.
"Hurry Melody, get as far away from the tree as you can...." Hope gathered her strength and stared up at the sky.
System locks in Yggdrasill unlocked and opened.
"What's happening!?" Peorth stared.
"Someone is accessing Gungir!" Ex shouted.
"What.... what have you done!? What have you done with all my precious power!?" Surt roared in rage.
Hope only glared up at him with a weak grin. "Your power?" She asked and laughed. "That's a new one!"
"Authorize..." The Almighty commanded.
*.... Authorized...*
"Confirm Target..."
*Target confirmed.... *
"Take aim..."
*Taking aim...*
"No! Abort program!" Peorth typed in a code.
*Denied*
"No! Stop! Please!!" Peorth cried.
"This is the only way." Hope sighed as a gate opened and a brilliant light shone down on her and Surt.
"That old fool!" Surt roared and started to separate from the tree. "Does he honestly think I'll wait around long enough for that old gun to charge up!?" He laughed.
Hope felt vines move along her hand, but quickly grabbed them and held on tight. "You're not going anywhere...." Hope grinned.
"NO! NOOO!!!
"Melody! Use my blood to form a shield over Nidheg!"
The angel tossed the orb out and a barrier formed around the tree.
"Hope...you will be rewarded greatly for this sacrifice." The almighty said as he hesitantly fired.
From the heavenly portal emerged a giant blue sphere that shown with the light of the sun.
"NO!! STOP IT!! STOP IT!" Surt shouted in fear.
"Hope...we're finally going to be set free.... from all our pain...." Despair's voice echoed within her.
"Yes.... but...all the ones we love.... we're leaving them now..." Tears streamed down her face as the orb neared. "...Everyone.... I love you.... always...."
The orb crashed down on them both.
Surt cried out in agony and vanished into the extreme holy light.
Hope's eyes went blank, the tree's vines released her, and her body fell limp away from the tree.
"Everyone...."
"Hope!" Freya, Ran, Bil, and Balder called.
"I do this..."
"Hope!" Peorth, Tyr, and Thor called.
"For you all..."
"Go Hope Go!!" Akina and her friends cheered.
"Because you're all so very important to me...."
"Hope!" Keima and Takano smiled.
"But most of all...."
"Hey Kid!" Megumi, Chihiro, and the former motor club members smiled.
"Because I love you..."
"Hope!" Urd and Skuld smiled.
"I love you all..."
"Hope!" Keiichi held his arms out to her.
"Always..."
"My precious daughter." Belldandy cradled her in her arms.
"Always..." Hope's body hit the ground, and she stared up to see the sun's light break through the dark clouds. "I did it...." She smiled up at the groups of demons as their pain ended and Nidheg began to merge back down into the ground.
"They're...they're all okay...I'm so happy...." Hope's eyes slowly closed, and her body exhaled.
All the demons stared down in shock.
"She...she...saved us all..." one muttered in disbelief.
"Hope.... HOPE!" Urd and Skuld shot down to the ground and kneeled down to Hope's side.
"Open your eyes! Please Hope!" Skuld cried and shook her body. "Please open your eyes! Everything is okay now! Surt's gone! You did it Hope! You saved everyone! Open your eyes!!" Skuld begged.
"Skuld.... she's.... she's..." Urd was chocking on the words.
"No!" Skuld cried. "We promised Belldandy that we'd protect her! We promised!" Skuld dug her fingers in the dirt as tears forced through her tightly closed eyes.
Thousands descended to the ground around Hope's body, all staring in sadness and disbelief.
"She didn't care...gods or demons... she was fighting for both sides." A goddess sobbed.
"She gave us a second chance." A demon stared at his hands in disbelief that he was alive, but like the others, he wished more than anything that he was the one lying there dead instead of this young hybrid child.
"Hope..." Tyr staggered through the crowd and stared at her.
"Tyr..." Urd looked back over at him with tears rolling down her face.
"H...Hope..." he dropped to his knees by her side. "Wh....why...why did you...."
Tears streamed down his face when he saw that all the life had vanished from her face. "HOPE!!!"
Hope's soul drifted up from her body, it pained her to see everyone crying over her, but she knew that they were alive, and that's all that really mattered to her. "Good bye..." She whispered as a tunnel of light shone down on her.
"Hope...it is time." The Almighty's voice echoed.
Hope took one last look at the union of light and dark and smiled. "Good bye." Wings arched from her back and she flew away, into the heavenly light.