"I must confess that our trek through the green waters of this horrid place was not pleasurable at all," the valkyrie commented, as she led the way through the darkened corridors. Her presence was a fine and dry one though, and there was no hint of dampness in her hair to be seen.

"I would imagine that they would be filled with corpses! But there is nothing…" the one clad in green, said.

"Whomever laid waste to this temple, did so with the intention of annihilating every single being and their soon-to-be rotten remains. The reason that we see no remnants further plunges its hallowed halls into a deeper state of despair and loneliness," the valkyrie told her, matter-of-factly, "this destruction bled with purpose,"

"But we've seen nothing, Valkyrie. Aren't we here to destroy the undead?" the boy said, drawing close to her. The four stopped walking and glanced around them. Only the sound of gently, lapping waters in the distance could be heard.

She eyed the dark, looming archway at the end of their path with interest and said, "I suspect that our foes wait beyond the quiet entrance of this place. Do not be fooled by the silence,"

"Valkyrie, behind you! A light!"

The valkyrie and her boy companion turned sharply, in time to see a pale green orb materialize and hover a few feet from the ground. The man and woman stood on the other side of it and immediately brandished their spears and held them forth, ready. The light seemed to intensify directly in its core, and then the orb shot up above them and flickered out.

"What was-" the woman said, but the valkyrie held up her palm for silence, mouth parted in surprise. Quietly, her three Einherjar turned about and eyed the corridor but nothing presented itself. They noticed the valkyrie's brows knit in defiance and she stared directly at the spot where the orb had appeared.

"Return from whence you came! These once-sacred halls are no place for a darkened soul such as yours!"

The three turned suddenly and watched the valkyrie stare coldly at the space between them.

"But my lady valkyrie, there is nothing-" the spearman began but she straightened her body and her eyes flared. He fell silent.

"Nor are they a place for Odin's vultures, arriving just in time to commune with its dead and passed on. Tell me valkyrie, is it by any chance that your master sent you 1000 years too late?"

All three gasped aloud and the valkyrie narrowed her eyes.

"I have no knowledge of the event you speak of. Even so, I am not your salvation, sent here to undo all the atrocities and carnage that your people endured. The Almighty Odin does not rectify your mortal mistakes," she shot back, voice calm and commanding. A thin hazy figure of a man melted out of the air between she and her Einherjar.

"My people…my people did not shut themselves in a prison, rupturing their knees due to unheeded prayer after unheeded prayer. My people were merely subservient lambs, herded into a life of strict routine and slavery," the figure said, with a lilt of amusement in his voice. The arms outstretched and the Einherjars followed his hands as if they were being formally introduced to the wrecked temple they now stood in.

"This…this was good. This did not happen to my people,"

The valkyrie seemed to have lost her suspicious nature, and her eyebrow was cocked lazily at the spirit. Nonetheless, her hand rested upon the hilt of her sheathed sword.

"So, you are not the spiritual remains of an unfortunate victim?"

"No, I am not," the figure said, and his eyes seemed to roam past her, sadly. Then he concentrated on the valkyrie again, saying, "if anything, I helped set this in motion. A tragedy at the very least, but I don't linger here just because I feel sorry,"

"Then why?"

For the first time, the figure began to move. His feet were not visible, rather his legs melted into the floor and he seemed to glide through it. The valkyrie noticed his human characteristics and was at once mystified by the way he paced.

"I suppose it's because we are both doomed to an eternal life of sacrifice, of bondage,"

The valkyrie's eyes peered at him curiously, " 'We'? Is there more than one confused soul listlessly wandering through here?"

"No, I am alone," and the figure smiled.

"You are happy about this?" The valkyrie was puzzled.

"Of course not," he said, gazing at her once more, through a veil of brown hair falling into his eyes, "but what good is it to wallow in the past when I am doomed to spend the next thousand years in the Shrine of Neb?"

" 'Neb'?" the valkyrie repeated, "what sort of tongue did you once speak?"

"Many, death goddess, many," the figure responded quickly, moving closer to her. The boy behind her pushed his readied bow into sight and crept to her side. The valkyrie touched his side lightly, and he dropped his weapon down, hesitantly.

The figure regarded all of this with what seemed to be a sardonic smile.

"This was once a shrine of worship to the gods of Aesir. In the days that it thrived, the Shrine of Neb was surrounded by a thick sea of woods in all directions. The displaced peoples of Lycoris built their stronghold here, in the middle of these woods and scattered its native tribes for miles around. Some of these forest-walkers, as we were called by them, were kidnapped and sold to the so-called royal family of Lycoris seeking a new land to base their small empire,"

"You are the vengeful spirit of a race of people who was captured for the common usage of a noble bloodline?" the valkyrie asked in perplexity.

"Not quite vengeful. I was born into slavery and thus, I never fought the cold war on the front lines. I was angry for what my family had to go through, though. I was angry that the nobles were so insensitive to the plight of those in unison with the earth,"

The valkyrie tilted her head and seemed to regard him, laughingly. The figure's translucent hands were clenched into large fists and he was hunched over her, with a distant sort of anger in his eyes.

"Perhaps you will realize that it is folly to give yourselves to the Vanir then," she remarked.

"Your master would strike you down for speaking again your superior, death goddess. You know nothing," the figure retorted, gliding back a few inches, effortlessly.

"Hm. I suppose you are aching to fuel my quest for knowledge then, restless spirit,"

"Don't mock me. I know you aren't here to obtain any sort of knowledge, but rather to disturb the dead. You waste your time. They won't recognize you or even hurt you if you just express your intent to leave. This isn't your place," the figure spat, turning now to gaze at the two Einherjar still baring arms. They regarded him harshly, and held their spears before them.

"But it is my duty," the valkyrie intoned, her voice rising in power and confidence, "and if I say I wish to know of the sort of holy retribution that tore through this blasphemed underworld, then you shall look me in the eye and relieve yourself of the burden you have carried for too long. A defiled and disgraced temple such as this will be cleansed by my hand,"

The figure turned and eyed her warily. He almost seemed frightened, but he pursed his lips and stepped closer to her.

"Why not, then? For you shall be facing the product of this mass destruction very sooner than you think,"

"It serves you no purpose to be cryptic with me," the valkyrie scoffed airily, "now tell me the names of the aforementioned nobles, and the nation that used to prosper here. I am interested,"