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 15: The Sum of All Deceits
The paroxysm of psychic power and the torrent of glass forced the advancing trio to take cover behind a wall, Skuld, with a cry of consternation, was the last to press her self against the wet concrete; the momentary terror of the past few moments receding as a new, more distinct sensation washed over her senses. The familiarity of the feelings reflected in her now horrified visage, the young goddess turned to her companions as the storm of glass and wood ceased; relative silence returning to the dark walkways of the campus.
"Tha…that was Belldandy, something's happened; we have to find her now!..." The rose goddess was about to answer Skuld's exclamation when the dispassionate tones of the valkyrie beat her to it; the divine soldier's voice ominous.
"I'm afraid that is not possible just now Skuld." Rind was crouched with her back to the wall; head inclined to give a surreptitious view of the concourse. With cautious movements, she was soon joined by Peorth in her observations; her fellow goddess casting critical eyes over the potential battlefield.
"What is it?..." Her whispered query was answered as Rind quietly gestured towards the trees on the approach to the university's main square. Peorth's gaze travelled up the walkway passing the shards of glass, akin to a sea of fallen stars as they reflected the soft glow of the few lamp lights, until she spied the trees. Her scrutiny was rewarded as she caught a hint of movement in their shadowy recesses; the odd twitch or flutter curious as she turned to the silent axe goddess.
"Ravens? Ainsi c'est la sorciere alors?" The valkyrie was silent for a moment; her eyes never leaving the source of movement.
"Yes. It seems we have company." The confirmation of the fellow deity's suspicions would have elicited a further question had not her eyes darted back at a new sound. The source of their concern now a multitude of winged, fluttering shapes rising from each side of the concourse. As the dark swarm darted to the main square, Rind's gaze narrowed; her thoughts anticipating what was to come. The square of Nekomi Tech is focused upon a distinctive fountain rising up several feet with a figure atop. The creatures now circled around before quickly converging on the top of the sculpture; their forms seeming to fuse into a single dark mass which rose up steadily. Rind braced, her grip tightening around her halberd.
"Prepare to move on my mark." Both goddesses nodded; their motions now of strained trepidation. The form atop the fountain was distinct now, the spectre wreathed in a long cloak with a cowl obscuring their features. The shadowy depths of the hood seemed to turn in the direction of the trio, Rind sensing a flicker of recognition from under the mantle. It was then in a flurry of motion that the figure extended a hand and fired; the arc of energy lancing forth towards the goddesses. Disaster was averted when in two swift motions Rind and Peorth, with a shocked Skuld in tow, darted forward with supernatural speed; the ground trembling as the trio's former refuge was reduced to rumble and flying concrete. The valkyrie found cover on the roof of a nearby building while her companions landed in a small alley close by. Closer to their assailant, Rind inclined her head to see that they remained stationary; the previous attack apparently a test shot to get their bearings. In an alley way close by Peorth leant against the wall with cautious movements as Skuld brought her weapon to bear; indicator lights turning from green to amber and eventually brilliant red as trembling fingers armed the cannon-like contraption. Above in the wet darkness, Rind's prediction held true; the enemy had sent forth its servant to halt their advance but with Belldandy's condition unknown and Urd missing, the time spent here could have terrible implications for them all. Atop the statue, the figure slipped its cloak off; the cowl falling back to reveal Shiho Sakakibara, the former spiritualist bedecked in dark fatigues similar to the goddesses own with a strange sword hanging from her hips. A familiar soft but lifeless voice echoes through their minds.
"I still sense you here. You may go no further beyond this place….the master decree's it." Rind answered with equally sterile tones.
"You are outnumbered. Your position is not tenable Shiho, lest you remember our last encounter; leave or the consequence may be your destruction." There was no difference in the sorceress's answer; something that added to the tragedy of the moment.
"…..That is irrelevant. It is incumbent upon me to return spirits to where they truly belong and thus if you persist, I shall take steps to prevent it." Upon the rooftop, Rind sighed. It was useless to talk further to the bewitched young woman; only violence remained to remove her. Below, the two goddesses silently confirmed Rind's order. A brief silence followed as time faltered before the eruption. Peorth was first, launching herself up she fired and the statue vanished in an explosion of light. Shiho dodged the strike as she dashed away then up to return with a telekinetic blast which missed the rose goddess but left devastation in its wake. Landing, they made contact as Peorth met the attack with her partisan; the glint of reflected light marking the arc of Shiho's unsheathed blade. Momentary grinding of steel led to both being forced back, the goddess silently reflecting on the mortal's inhuman speed as she pressed the opportunity with a rose. The projectile was dodged, though only just as the blood that slid down her opponent's cheek testified. The sorceress's counter was intended for the rose goddess but a sensation of familiar energy swung her arm around as she fired. The shot grazed the descending valkyrie enough for Shiho to avoid the spear head as it was thrust at her. Recovering quickly, Rind parried the young woman's blade before forcing the former spiritualist on the defensive………
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The first waking moments were ones of grief which seemed to hold all the agony of a deep wound. With trembling movements and soft whimpers she rose; a surge of urgency restoring her lucidity. The sorrow subsiding to an almost bearable level, Belldandy found herself juxtaposed; sensations of familiarity for the campus rising in a strange long corridor, completely devoid of any illumination. Hurrying forward, her suspicions were confirmed as this place seemed to resonate with the faint, but palpable demonic essence. Forcing herself along this twisted reality, her advance was impeded as, to her initial shock, a voice which the goddess had come to loathe seeped from the floor, the walls and the ceiling; its utterances soft, though with an eloquent venom.
"Once a long time ago, in God's kingdom, within its pristine halls and hallowed gardens, a child was born unto Kami-sama; his first pure-borne daughter. This maiden as she grew was thought to be a pure and exceptional being that embodied divine principle; Perficio Dea, perfect in all proportions, habits and appetites…..."
Struggling forward, she could not ascertain where the demon's voice was coming from; each step bring her no closer to the end of the corridor than the last and still the voice echoed through the darkness.
"This maiden was named Belldandy, the norn of the present, and dispatched to grant the desire of those blest by heaven. Thus one day she descended to grant a wish, with righteousness in her heart and divine favour on her lips, for a young man. The love she believed they nurtured there survived many horrific trials……"
The sound of that voice was irrepressible in its monologue; the goddess struggling to contain a façade of self-possession as her thoughts became phantasms in the confines of that place: faces, voices, flickers of the past bled into each other in the likeness of nightmares. It was something of a relief as the sound of several explosions shook her from the influence of the malign darkness, her thoughts turning to her fellow deities close by, but still the voice continued.
"Though now, the love she believed existed has been only a mask; a façade over fears, doubt and private terrors. Thus as our tragedy draws to its close, you seek vengeance for your aggrieved heart…."
The darkness around her wavered; the goddess detecting the palpable fabric of reality reforming and, as the corridor melted away, she found herself in a large hall she knew to be a social area for students. Of course her attention quickly found the creature responsible for this madness. At the far end of the hall, almost submerged in a pool of shadow, Mephistopheles reclined in contemplation; the demon's eyes marking the goddess as she approached.
"My apologises for the formulaic introductions, but I have waited for this moment for some considerable time…..."
The goddess approached the demon steadily; her lips still though her expression was one of pain, anger and barely suppressed indignation. Nearing him, her pace slowed as eyes that burned with unshed tears met the demon's own crimson depths; the sense that the events of the previous days had come full circle to this place, hanging over this meeting. The brittle silence that pervaded for a few, almost painful seconds was broken by a whisper that soon grew, giving voice to indignation.
"What…you…What you have done to is a transgression against all that is precious…….this crime, your machinations have taken something that love does not begin to describe……." Her words almost faltered there as she spoke, her restrained anger eliciting a mild look of satisfaction.
"An interesting accusation from one who presumes to understand the human soul so well……..you of all creatures must know the nature of the heart; it questions, it doubts and it desires, or perhaps it is only a sin when you do not agree with it."
"………Your actions are despicable, Mephistopheles…….."
"Your love was an illusion from the beginning and yet, standing there, I feel compelled to ask, are you perficio dea, Belldandy? Are you the perfect goddess? Or is that an illusion also for a life of self-indulgent delusions, hypocrisy and conceit amongst you and your kin?" The goddess remained still, only her hands seemed to tremble as tears made there way down her cheeks while her eyes remained locked on the demon, her intent clear.
"As a goddess first-class with no restrictions, I can not tolerate this work on earth…or your presence here, thus you shall be exercised from this place." A look of momentary distain passed over the demon's shadowy visage as he descended; the only sound that of his boots touching the plastic floor. Appraising the goddess silently as the shadows retracted, as if of their own violation.
"I understand and I must reciprocate, yet it seems now that our goals were not so unalike after all……"
The response was faster than any mortal could have seen. In one swift motion, she focused and fired a spell; the single, brilliant sphere of light detonating as it brought down a substantial proportion of the wall. Mephistopheles reappeared airborne once again, the goddess turning quickly to strike with a air spell; the blade like wind impacting in a shimmer of crimson light on the demon's shield. Slipping to offensive, he responded too quickly for the goddess to respond as the air spell met its target and she was thrown back; the ground beneath her exploding under the incredible pressure. Falling, the world seemed to slow as if the flow of time had lessened and it took a great exertion to pull free with only seconds before her surroundings were engulfed by a storm of flame; the shield raised by the goddess absorbing most of the strike. As the fire faded, and the goddess darted over the rubble and embers, she brought her partisan around in a defensive stance but found nothing; the partially collapsed wall had brought down a good part of the roof with only the wind's sigh and tap of rain in the gutted hall. Unseen, the demon smiled his secret smile; his strategy vindicated, it was time to remove the king and checkmate the queen. He whispered a small incantation before turning to the goddess; the voice, with a modest satisfaction, weaved into the air.
"My commendations; truly the power of such great repute with the strength and conviction of Kami-sama, but it seems that we've entered the final act of our private tragedy and I'm unsuitably dressed for the part……." Her scrutinising blue eyes were then drawn upwards and she beheld the demon though something stayed her hand as the figure grew indistinct, a dark silhouette that wavered and changed as a surge of energy filled the ruined hall. The figure that appeared was a vision of infernal power; wreathed in long, flowing burgundy and ebony robes with full dark armour; the demon's face plate akin to that of a porcelain mask. The less armoured of his gauntlets withdrew from it robes that cruel rapier, while the other, tipped with steel claws, gestured out to her; the mask bowing slightly as if in salute. Below, Belldandy braced herself as she closed her eyes and uttered a silent prayer to heaven.
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In the tower above, inside the wet and chaotic remains of a large office, Keiichi tried to reflect on the litany of actions now spinning through his mind like some obscene merry-go round; his concern oscillating between the events of the past half hour and the attack which had seen Sumiko thrown across the room with nerve shattering speed. His anxiety hadn't been improved by the sounds of a pitched battle taking place close by; the wind regularly bearing the sound of explosions up to their little eyrie. Leaning against the table, a hand rubbing the rising bruises which now stained her neck, Sumiko turned to K1 as he returned from the gaping maw in the wall.
"Sorry. Seems we pushed our luck a little too far……and it seems that Bell's friends feel the same way too." K1 nodded, looking into her eyes with some trepidation; everything he had planned to do had fallen apart and while some part of him felt compelled to find the fallen Belldandy, his concern form the weary young woman before him was stronger.
"I know, everything's coming to pieces but I still think we could save this mess…somehow. Just now, though, I think we need to leave as soon as possible; I don't know how long it'll be before we're caught in the cross-fire…" Sumiko nodded her agreement as she pulled K1's jacket, now hanging from her narrow shoulders, tighter. After a few pensive moments she asked with tentative words.
"What do you plan to do next, once we're away?" With a weary smile he answered.
"I…I think I'll try to find Belldandy and try to sort this out if I can."
She was about to answer when a sudden and ominously familiar sensation stopped the words in her throat. Her heart seemed to quicken and her blood raced with fright. Clutching at her heart through the fabric of her blouse, she leant over; her breath now laboured as a new perspiration wet her brow. The feeling that now suffused her form was unmistakable as, with a strained look of suppressed pain, she resigned herself to its inevitability. K1 had stepped forward to hold her, asking in anxious tones if the she was alright. It was with trembling fingers that she put her hand on his shoulder, the other pressing against the pains in her stomach. Looking into his frightened face with melancholy eyes, she wondered how he was now close and yet so very far from her.
"Sumiko are…are you okay….are you in pain?..."
"Please…just…just listen. I've loved you from afar when I thought it was just my strange heart playing tricks; when every one else looked but didn't see; when all others dismissed me, you stayed and didn't waver, you believed when others didn't. For that you have my love, always and without condition."
"Sumiko wha..what is-"
"Don't think of me as a monster; I…..I only desired what I felt I would never have. For the pain and grief, I'm truly sorry…." With that her lips met his in a soft embrace as she pressed against him, the bewildered K1 bringing his arms around to her back as she did so. As the remarkable sensation of her lips endured, she seemed to tremble in his arms before the young woman began to contract; her hands and arms withering as the bosom pressed against him diminished, the toned body shrinking into the jacket. Her hair withdrew once more as Keiichi saw the soft contours of her visage reform. Looking up to him, tears streaming down her face , he watched as a light sprinkling of freckles blossomed on her nose and cheeks. Returning to her petite stature, he thought he saw a faint smile as she fell, the startled young man catching her in shaking arms. It was then, with the focus of the spell removed, that the enchantment was withdrawn. The love he felt with such conviction vanishing, he now understood the implications of his actions. Blood drained from his weary visage and the world seemed to swim; the gravity of what he had said, done and felt over the last few days cutting through his mind with a new and terrible horror. As he slowly knelt, there were no tears, no paroxysm of violence or protracted ululation, only the knowledge that he has lost the woman he loved to a demon's machinations. His glazed eyes turned down to Sora; still, her breath barely audible, her skin pale as she lay in clothes several sizes too large for her slight frame. He embraced her softly, wishing to comfort her as he put his head against hers; a small gesture of warmth in that dark place.
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An explosion of magical energy shook the small room, the unusual movement bringing down a light shower of dust from unused shelves. The movement also woke Urd with a start, the norn of the past trying to regain lost bearings as her senses returned. Looking around, her hands bound and suspended from the top, she found herself in some type of containment device, fully enclosing her from the outside. Her curious and frustrated eyes soon found similar bonds around her waist and ankles and, as she balled her hands into fists, discovered even her fingers were restrained with steel ringlets. It was then, as she spied the demonic runes imposed on the restraints, it clicked and a wry, cynical smile twisted her lips; the meaning of this device clear. She could appreciate the paradoxical demonic logic behind it; this was not meant to contain her, but to change her. Similar to the incident with Mara a few years back, the restraints were designed for her alone, thus the only way she was going to get out of this was to become something other than herself; the thought compounded by the straining of the creature within. She swore under her breath contemplating what would happen next. It angered her to have come so far only to be a pawn in Mephistopheles plans, to unleash the other side of her self for some, as yet, unperceived purpose but the options available were few. But there was something else, an idea that was considered in the past but only as a theory. If she opened the gates of her soul and intentionally allowed what lay beyond to subsume her almost to entirety, while she kept a fraction of her current self to try and limit her excesses, like a small island in a vast, dark sea. It was a desperation move as she might just be handing herself over to it, but choice wasn't on her side; from what she heard and felt, the others were pulling out all the stops on this one while the opposition was responding in kind and she wasn't going to take a back seat. She sighed, a soft resigned sound in the confines of her small prison before she straightened herself and closed her eyes. In the silent moments as she opened the gates of her soul, the norn hoped, no, prayed that she could control it and if not……she hoped they would remember her as she was instead of what she would become.
The silence that followed was ominous; the long, tubular device that stood in the centre of the room now the centre of dark energies as electricity danced and arced over its smooth surface. The energy faded and silence was restored for only a moment before the device was shredded in a burst of flame and light. The remains of the prison now scattered over the floor amid burning embers, a figure emerged from the wisps of smoke brushing a lock of platinum hair from crimson eyes; her movements purposeful as she stepped over smouldering steel and circuitry. She stopped as she looked up; sensing others close by and a soft smile, devoid of any humour, twisted her lips, then the demon first-class vanished to join the war above.
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The conflict near the fountain had turned the concourse into a battlefield; the shattered buildings, scattered concrete, broken glass and craters a testament to the ferocity of the combat. Shiho, augmented by terrible power, had held the three off as they tried to progress further. Skuld and Peorth had begun to show the strain of this altercation; the youngest goddess firing at a target which moved faster than any human could or, with great effort, deflecting her blasts. The rose goddess, though unused to combat, strove to engage the sorceress with discipline and versatility, something that merited Rind's silent admiration. The valkyrie, though, met the mortal repeatedly, either in a group or in single combat; her trained senses always trying to discern the mortal's weakness as their blades met or in bursts of supernatural power. Withdrawing from each other once more to take cover, her mind considered how such a mortal, even with enhanced strength, could contain the powers of three goddesses. Her line of thought would have concluded with an analysis of their situation if something had not gained the attention of mortal and deities simultaneously. Their concentration on each other interrupted, the wet night momentarily turned to day as a building on the other side of the university square vanished in an explosion of white light. The previous surge of power had alarmed all the combatants, but the recognition felt by the valkyrie was one that invoked a memory of night and the roof tops of Innsbruck. The thought could not be followed though; the light vanishing quickly to reveal something that all three goddesses had been dreading. Atop the remains of a roof, a figure surveyed the carnage in silence; wet platinum locks framing a face with crimson eyes and the crest of a demon. The familiar face now devoid of any expression, she moved with exceptional speed. Landing, her first strike arced down upon Shiho, the bolt sending the sorceress into a wall. Her attention was immediately upon the goddesses as fire rained down upon those she once called kin; their actions one of consternation.
In the air above Nekomi Tech and the remains of the student hall, Belldandy's attack was dodged by the demon; the goddess still persevering in her war with a pain that seemed to cut her soul. Looking upon his adversary, his weapon prepared to defend, the Mephistophilis felt a modest satisfaction in the developments here. Behind the cold, dispassionate contours of his face plate, he smiled his secret smile as the sum of his machinations were played out below. Skuld, Peorth and Rind would now confront the transformed Urd; the potency of the demonic part of her soul now apparent. The demon could feel Keiichi, having recovered from his shock, taking Sora to a safe place far from the battlefield. Keiichi would return as expected, but by then his presence would be of no consequence; fear would keep him from using the angelic demon while concern for Sora would occupy him long enough. Now Belldandy was vulnerable; the layers of armour around her soul gone, the goddess was alone in her grief, anger and pain. Belldandy, the whispered perficio dea, a brilliant, pure light even in heaven, would now be neutralised as a presence on earth. The board almost swept clean, checkmate was now imminent…….
As always, opinions and marginally constructive flames are greatly appreciated. Also, I'd like to apologise for the delay, my PC died on me and it took four weeks for repairs to be completed. With myself back online and a few days holiday coming up, I look forward to posting the final instalment for this fan fic very soon.
Yours sincerely
Sorcerer's Familiar.
