I do not own Ah! My Goddess or any of its related characters or copyrights. These are the property of Kosuke Fujishima and the relevant corporate bodies.

Light's Nemesis

Chapter 12: Echoes of Innsbruck (Part 2)

To watch the Valkyrie and demon do battle was something of fascination and extraordinary violence. As the rain fell in torrents; carried on gusts of saturated wind, the two combatants met again and again; the sound of their respective blades punctuating the sound of falling rain. Rind sought the demon out constantly, her attacks aided by a ferocity which only a person with her unique experience could know; her strikes rapid and deliberate as she assaulted her foe, all the while looking for a flaw in his expert defence. The demon countered easily as he brought his weapon up to meet her halberd; the Valkyrie's anger, as profound as it was, failing to give her the decisive edge in this battle. As the moments passed their private battle began to take on incredible proportions as their speed increased with each blow; their shapes becoming a blur as they parried, defended and attacked. The weapons of the two combatants seemed oddly mismatched; the Valkyrie's halberd with its great axe head meeting with the Mephistophilis's long, thin yet extremely versatile rapier was deceptive as Rind knew the precision and concentrated power of the demon's weapon. A power which she was compelled to consider with every blow against him. Rind brought her weapon around in a sweep, intent on knocking the demon over, but it was fruitless as he darted over her; the Valkyrie aware for a moment that the demon was above her. Without the time to turn, she forced the end of her weapon behind her; her hopes of transfixing the creature on the opposite spearhead giving her momentary satisfaction. Standing with her weapon pressed against the demon's back, she thought of her next action, until she was interrupted by a very unwelcome feeling; the distinctive sensation of a blade pressed against her neck. Still for a long moment she realised the rapidity of the demon's counter action and understood the momentary stalemate; each of them facing in the opposite direction but with their weapons pressed against each other behind them. It was then a familiar voice reached her ears; not mocking but seemingly curious.

"I see that you've improved Valkyrie; your training has been fruitful but doesn't it all seem a bit disingenuous?"

The divine soldier was silent before responding; her indignation apparent.

"What?"

"The irony, Valkyrie. The terrible irony which only you and I can appreciate; the thing you come closer to as you reach your full potential, my dear Rind. The true reason you so despise me………"

"Liar!" The Valkyrie thrust with her weapon behind her; hoping to skewer the demon on its spear head and yet she felt nothing there. Instantly realising her folly, she spun and brought the halberd up as the demon's blade materialised; the resulting collision of the two weapons causing a spark of energy which briefly illuminated the faces of these two most implacable enemies.

"Do I lie? You of all heavenly beings know what I speak of, Rind. Your hate was born because I showed you the true potential of the Valkyrie that night so long ago. You and I know the true meaning of conviction and dedication to our causes; you know that in Heaven and Hell there is no two other organisations that will go the distances we go or plunge the depths we do to satisfy our superiors and yet you deny it. You know what you are becoming Rind……….." The slow grinding of steel against steel was suddenly broken as the Valkyrie shoved her opponent back, the demon smiling a soft smile as he moved swiftly back, then with a cry of anger brought her weapon across; Rind intent on cutting this monstrosity in two. The weapons arc missed the demon; his movements light and incredibly quick as he anticipated the move. Then, his weapon seeming like a flash of reflected light, he ran the blade across the divine soldier's arm; the material parting to reveal a thin but deep incision. She barely acknowledged the wound as she tried to defend herself, reversing the arc of her blow using the spear head of the halberd. The demon knocked this aside as he attacked once more, his thrust narrowly avoided as she spun round with the halberd forcing the demon to dodge her counter attack. The two faced each other as before with Rind possessed of a myriad of painful memories now focused on the maleficent being several feet in front of her. With a cry borne of a thousand secret tears and soul tearing heart ache, she attacked; the gnash and her blood stained right arm seeming almost irrelevant.

In seconds, battle was joined once again as she thrust with the axe head. As the demon danced aside Rind saw an opportunity and, leaping back, she brought her right gauntlet up and fired; the energy shot deflecting of the demon's rapidly raised force field as Mephistopheles anticipated her attack. The Valkyrie attacked again as he lowered it; Mephistopheles narrowly avoiding it though the blade glanced of his shoulder, inflicting a small wound as she forced the demon back. Sensing this, he retreated; his leap into the air ending as he landed several feet from the enraged Valkyrie. Sensing that she held the apparent advantage, the Valkyrie started to advance. The demon had recovered quickly and, as he smiled his secret smile, he quickly ran two fingers of his gloved hand along the strange runes near the base of his weapon's hilt and the trap was set. Rind closed in and swung as the demon's form seemed to waver; the speed of his movement something of indifference to her. He parried and she brought the spear head across as he avoided it quickly. Finally, with a cry, she brought the weapon around and with a great force brought it down on her opponent. He watched the blade fall and, with a twist of his wrist, brought his own weapon around; the rapier's runes and blade edge now suffused with a red light. Rind noticed this, her expression one of dawning shock as she realised her folly, but she could not avert the collision of the two blades. The halberd was irresistible in its descent and the weapons, inevitably, met. The sound of steel impacting on steel was heard over the rain. The two remained stationary for a moment before the Valkyrie noticed the small cracks in her axe head; the rapid advance of the red fractures along the blade punctuated with a sound like breaking glass. A moment later, the blade shattered along with its pole. She stumbled back as Mephistopheles attacked but the sword found her; the rapier dancing across her thigh, chest and shoulder. The Valkyrie retreated with remarkable agility as she somersaulted away from him. The height and speed brought a thin smile to the demon's lips as he rapidly raised his free hand and whispered a spell. As the soldier twisted to land, her figure was suddenly met with a mass of vines, roots and grass as it ascended up form the ruptured earth below her. Her body writhing as the mass wrapped itself around her wrists and ankles, now suspending her in mid-air.

Her struggling became more difficult as the earthly mass increased its grip. With a look a gratification he twisted his hand and uttered another incantation; a spell which caught Rind's attention as it began to manifest. Above the demon, the rain seemed to concentrate into a long tendril which grew rapidly, twisting as it rose through the air. The Valkyrie recognised it; her expression one of frustration as the watery tendril stopped; its end forming into a face reminiscent of a dragon. She twisted her head to see the demon; his face raised to her. His smile was lost in the rain as she knew what was coming. He gestured with his hand and the liquid serpent raised itself before falling on the inert soldier; its jaws open as Rind braced her self for the impact; frustrated with her impudent anger. The beast charged; the last thing the Valkyrie remembering before its watery jaws closed around her. The world became an abyss as the energy of the demon's creation torn at her with incredible force and then she was falling. The world turned black as she impacted on the earth. She regained consciousness, her view that of the clouds and falling rain before she tried to rise, an act that was swiftly followed by the sensation of a long blade pointed against her throat. Her head swimming with pain, frustration and exhaustion, she turned to the owner of the weapon; the demon now a tall shadow looming over her with eyes thin crimson slits in the darkness. His voice followed; curiously unchanged following their rapid but intense confrontation.

"It seems that you're undone, Valkyrie. Improved certainly, but it seems that your vengeance is yet to be slaked."

"………………"

"Still playing the honour game? Still denying the truth of why you so despise me?" She sneered her response; her contempt open.

"You and your order are filth! What would a creature like you know of honour, demon?……….." The Mephistophilis seemed indifferent to the insult; his expression one of curiosity than offence.

"The order which I represent and the Valkyrie of the Fighting Wings division are not unalike, as you may know; we, Rind, are the very best and worst our militaries have to offer. We have the dedication and conviction because we are ideological soldiers. That is the true reason for your hate; you know that as you reach your full potential you will become everything heaven has distain for; everything you so hate in your enemies, you are slowly becoming."

"Liar." She hissed as the blade pressed against her throat reasserted itself; the demon lowering himself with his eyes focused on hers. His voice was a soft though cruel whisper.

"You and I have the same intensity of conviction; you and I are very much alike. That is why you so loathe me so, Valkyrie, because you know what you are becoming; a creature with distain for life and contempt for death, a soulless killing machine who will only have the vaguest remembrance of what she once was as a goddess who could laugh, smile, love………. and take joy in all of creation. But that will be only a memory as you become like that which you so hate………" Rind swore under her breath; it was all she could do as she looked up along the blade and into the face of its owner.

The demon rose as a new silence endured between them; Rind reflecting on the demon's words that cut her heart with their veracity. He then spoke.

"The closure you so covet cannot be gained great Valkyrie, though I believe that we shall meet again very soon as you so love the cliché, my dear Rind. We have business to conclude this night, and now if you will excuse me….." The blade was lifted from her throat as the demon vanished into the night leaving the bloody and saturated soldier to rise to her knees; the words of the creature still echoing through her mind .Wearily she lifted a hand to her face and opened it to reveal the small faded silver ring. As she heard rapid footfalls and Belldandy calling her name she was grateful that it rained so heavily as she secretly added her own few hot tears to already wet cheeks.

"I'm so sorry dear friend, I'm so sorry….." She whispered, collapsing as the world of the garden and falling rain turned black around her.

The soft light eventually compelled Rind back to consciousness, and with consciousness came fear. Sitting upright quickly, the Valkyrie found herself in Belldandy's room; herself the only occupant under a soft quilt. Turning, she found a small table with a silver tray of hot tea and a variety of miscellaneous containers with heavenly script; the product of Urd's experimentation no doubt. She sighed and rubbed her neck, feeling the vestiges of her battle with the demon around her body as the aches subsided: her wounds now non existent with the exception of tenderness. Rubbing the site of the demon's first strike on her bare shoulder, she wondered what his next move would be with so much in his possession. Her reflection turned to the creature's words and she sighed; her eyes closing as she recalled another time and the genesis of her hate for him. Her contemplation was interrupted however as the door slid quietly back to emit a relieved looking Belldandy. The first-class goddess's face was almost joyous as she knelt beside the recovering soldier.

"Rind! I'm so glad you're awake. For a while we thought of contacting the Heavens for an extraction in your poor state." The Valkyrie smiled as she turned to her concerned fellow goddess.

"You have my thanks, Belldandy and my most sincere apologies. I underestimated his tactics and left my charges vulnerable; it is unbecoming of the Valkyrie to consider such things and it is undutiful. For this I am truly sorry." The soldier bowed her head but Belldandy only smiled; the warmth of her voice causing the Valkyrie to look up.

"No Rind, you need not apologise. You followed your orders and attempted to remove the threat in the quickest manner possible in extremely difficult circumstances; we're only happy that you recovered. We watched you from the veranda and feared for your life when he struck you with that water spell."

"I'm grateful for your care, but" She glanced at the tray with its diverse containers," how are the others?" Belldandy's answer was up lifting except for her pensive

eyes.

"Skuld is fine, if a little shocked and Peorth is currently trying to unravel the demon's spell though, I'm afraid, that she has met with little success. Urd is….." her voice seemed to falter as if trying to articulate a dozen emotions in an instant; her impression laced with a palpable foreboding." Urd is coping and yet I fear for

her……." The Valkyrie smiled softly; knowing the terrible strains of the past day now resting on her shoulders.

"We will get Keiichi back, Belldandy. The pain you feel will not be without end. I promise you."

"I pray that it will be, Rind." It was then that Bell turned slightly and delved into her skirt pocket; her hand returning with the familiar ring, distinct in the soft light.

"Oh, and this is yours. I found it when you collapsed and the demon fled." She handed it to Rind; the divine soldier grateful for the small effect. It was then she turned to Bell with a small but almost melancholy expression on her usually dispassionate visage. Holding the ring, she asked a curious question.

"Forgive me Belldandy, but what do you know of the Faust incident in 1540?" Belldandy seemed contemplative for a moment before answering; her eyes seemingly distant.

"The incident with the Wizard was controversial and involved a great deal of wrangling over the concordance and…" She hesitated; worried that her next words may be cause for offence to her companion. "….was linked with a number of deaths in the Valkyrie unit sent to retrieve the soul." Rind nodded solemnly; her expression, though a mask of dispassion, confirming it.

"Your quite right Belldandy and perhaps you wonder why I harbour such a hatred for the demon?"

"I have not considered it but your feelings reached me before your confrontation with him; the feelings were profound with anguish, but I could not ask why." The Valkyrie smiled as she turned her gaze to Bell's soft, benevolent features.

"I thank you for your warmth. Usually in such a situation, sensitive information cannot be divulged but the time has come to reveal the significance of it to me and," she glanced at the small ring, " because you and the others deserve better than the usual "yes" or "no" answers." She clasped the ring in her palm and then started to speak; Rind's voice almost tentative, as if speaking of something far off in the heart but close in the mind.

"Belldandy, I first encountered the demon when my combat unit was dispatched to requisition the soul of Johann Faust. At the eleventh hour of the mortal's contract, the supreme council decreed that he should be granted an exemption for his crimes and saved from a very quick descent into the Infernal Empire. The unit contacted was the Rapid Response Squadron and my first command, though I was no fledgling in the position."

At this her visage became slightly strained as she looked into the two sky blue eyes of her fellow goddess.

"My lieutenant," She continued tentatively," was a goddess that I was close to in my childhood and during my career as a soldier. Her name was Kara; a person I came to love as profoundly as you do with Urd or Skuld. A love fashioned from years of a of great affinity. She was an excellent soldier and we entered the ranks of the Valkyrie around the same time. When the order came, she was the second-in –command of our small unit of ten, including myself and her. We descended on the area the wizard had tried to hide himself in; the small town of Innsbruck in southern Bavaria. Our approach was cautious as Yggdrasil had, surprisingly, little on the Mephistophilis's combat abilities except for his rank and recorded powers. With that in mind, I knew that the Hasatan's right-hand man wouldn't be a push over, so we divided into a recon and support formation as we landed on that wet night in 1540. Our plan was to get the soul back as quickly as possible in an ambush that the recon team would start while my support group would function as back up. It was my strategy to the problem and thus Kara led the recon into the town while we came around in a pincer movement from the south. Closing in, communication with the recon team was lost and we feared the worst. Arriving at their predetermined position we found a scene of desolation and the reason why we lost contact. The group had themselves been ambushed and cut down mounting a defence. The unit had been destroyed and yet its commander was missing; a small consolation as I had lost nearly half of my command. We contacted Heaven and were ordered to continue with the mission. As we advanced to the centre of the town we found her except, to my anger, we were already in his trap. He used my lieutenant as bait and sprung a second ambush. It was during this, that the demon committed an almost unspeakable atrocity. To undermine our motivation and to unnerve my survivors, the wretched creature initiated a spell and tore Kara's angel from her.

For a moment only the drum beat of rain against the roof filled the silence as Belldandy lifted her hands to her mouth; the incredulity evident in her sky blue eyes that now seemed transfixed with horror. Finally, the Valkyrie continued; her voice leaden with melancholy.

"Have you ever heard a soul shatter, Belldandy? It is a sound unlike any other; a scream that echoes through all the chambers of the mind and heart, lingering there for days after. It is the sound of desolation and horror which you can never forget."

"Rind….I…I'm so sorry..."

"Eventually we managed to tear the soul from the demon's grasp and, with the few survivors and a comatose Kara, returned to Heaven. We believed that the demon would face punishment for his crimes and yet nothing could be done. The abomination had apparently exploited an obscure clause in the concordance which justified certain actions if he originally had the soul in his possession, thus rendering us impudent of any retribution. There were some negotiations behind closed doors, but for all intents and purposes the matter was closed. Kara recovered; her soul was reconstituted after months of treatment and she was eventually ordered to transfer to Yggdrasil's system operations department, but she was not the same person after it. Her smile, laugh, even her sense of humour had withered to almost nothing, as if her soul could no longer recall them. To so many, the Kara I had known since childhood was gone and yet no justice was wrought upon the demon responsible. That is my added motivation now, Belldandy. To ensure the Mephistophilis is punished for his actions that night and to allow retribution for those he destroyed…..and for her." She returned her attention to the small ring between her fingers; its significance now exceeding its fairly innocuous appearance.

"This ring is all that I have to recall those days when she and I were as close as sisters; before that horrible night and the abomination that orchestrated the desecration of her soul."

Belldandy, her hands now clasped in her lap, was silent as she appraised the divine soldier; her eyes enigmatic pools of concern. Her heart ached after Rind had finished her tale, a recollection that forced a different outlook on this most dispassionate and practical of goddesses as she sat in silence. The Norn of the present wanted to ask a myriad of different questions, to embrace her as a loved one in this most terrible of times and yet she was apprehensive that such a gesture may be excessive. She could feel acutely the writhing emotions within her, feelings that reminded her of her own pain as she watched the demon that wore K1's face vanish into the darkness; the feeling of loss, anguish and horror that no one should have to face mirrored behind a mask of professionalism. Finally, she leant forward as she cast her apprehension away and embraced her fellow goddess. The embrace was tentative at first, but as they held each other Belldandy felt a new wetness against her neck as Rind relinquished her façade; the walls silently crumbling as the Valkyrie allowed her self to feel emotion in so long. Time seemed of little consequence as they felt the others anguish; a gesture that reaffirmed their convictions in a night that now seemed darker than many could have imagined.

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As always, opinions and marginally constructive flames are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Sorcerer's Familiar.