Part 3
Little Lost Soul 2 – The Rescue or Finder's Keeper's
I could sense Kylie's power mere moments after she was born. Far from diminishing her potential, her human half made her even more powerful, an effect even I could not have imagined. I was ready to show her to you both, but on my way, I was stopped by the Demon King."
All three sisters gasped in unison, "The Demon King? But that's impossible! He could never enter heaven!"
The Almighty One lowered his head, "Normally, you'd be right. But…long ago when I was young, brash, and foolish I made a horrible mistake. I thought I could take the demons head on and defeat them once and for all. I challenged their king to a series of long and complicated battles, events, feats of strength and intellect, and quests. Our struggle lasted for years, so I shan't go into the details. It went back and forth, but in the end, I was too young, inexperienced, and stubborn, and I lost.
Our pact was bound with the magics of both realms and thus couldn't be broken by either side. That's what allowed him entrance into heaven that day. He had come to collect on what was due to him. He had promised to cause me pain if he won, and he had chosen to use my newborn child to do this. No words were spoken, as we both knew why he was there, even after so much time had passed. It was over in a second. I was powerless to stop him as he grabbed Kylie from my arms and disappeared back into his own realm again where I could not follow.
An image then appeared in my mind of my poor little daughter in the center of a demonic circle. She was screaming, holding her arms out…looking for a loving person to comfort her. The demon king laughed and spoke, "Now witness as your daughter's soul is imprisoned! The beginning of a lifetime of constant torture!" He began chanting and then, Kylie vanished. Then the image left my mind, the pact fulfilled and the link broken.
It felt like the life had been sucked out of me. It has been with me since that day and I was never able to find out what had happened to her…until today. A new goddess suddenly appeared on Yggdrasil's monitor out of nowhere. At first, I thought it was a glitch…but then I listened to my heart…and it told me that it was Kylie. Thanks to Skuld's skill with inventing, I was able to find her trapped in the body of a mortal. The only reason I can think of is that the Demon King's power has weakened…probably temporarily.
It is written that every few thousand years, his power weakens for a day or so while he must rest and recharge his evil powers. This, combined with Kylie's tremendous energy, could explain her sudden appearance. Perhaps he did not realize that this would affect his curse…but it did and I fear we do not have much more time. We may have a chance of freeing Kylie while his powers are in their current state, but if they return, all hope is lost. We must prepare now!"
Everyone immediately sprung into action. The preparation had to be perfect and had to be as soon as possible. An enormous magic circle was meticulously constructed in the center plaza, a place of tremendous power. A group of lesser gods and goddesses, standing hand-in-hand, created a second circle around the magic circle. The center of the magic circle contained a triangle, with one of the three sisters standing on each end. The almighty one nodded. All was ready. He began a chant…an ancient spell taking the power of hundreds of gods and goddesses to pull off. The outer circle of gods and goddesses all began to chant a separate verse in unison. Then the three sisters each entered into the spell, one at a time. They represented the closest link to Kylie, being her sisters, and were put closest to her to draw her out.
In the center was the young, frightened goddess, her true soul now in total control of the body ever since Belldandy reached out to her. As the magic circle began to glow around her, she started to cry and hold out her arms towards Belldandy. Not able to move from her spot or interrupt her chanting, she could only give Kylie a reassuring and comforting look to calm her. Suddenly, Kylie began to raise into the air. Nothing more happened for a while, Kylie floating and glowing over the circle center, but then she let out an ear-splitting scream.
The almighty one sent his thoughts to the sisters, "The demon king's magic is working against our magic, and the effect is tearing her apart as if she were being pulled by each arm in separate directions. This is causing her pain….I so desperately want to stop, but I can't, or we may never get another chance. We must try to rip her spirit from the grasp of the demon king's magic…it is weakened, but still not weak by any means…please, my daughters, try harder…think of your sister and concentrate with all your might!"
They all did as they were told and Kylie began to scream louder. They could tell, however, that ever so slowly, the demon king was losing his grip. Then, when they could almost bear poor Kylie's screams no longer, there was a flash of light, temporarily blinding everyone. The chanting and the screams stopped all at once and the silence was deafening.
After the light went back to normal, the almighty one, the sisters, and everyone else looked hopefully towards the center. What they saw caused some smiles, giggles, cheers, and general happiness. A small girl, of no more than 6, stood in a huge pile of clothes with a very confused look on her face.
The girl spoke up in a small voice, "U….um…w….what happened..?" Immediately after she said this, she was scooped up off the ground by Belldandy, who then proceeded to hug her tight and kiss her over and over.