Disclaimer: Don't own it, now get off my case.

Author's Notes: I would like to thank all the people who reviewed so far, and also ask to keep it up. I haven't heard anything negative about this story so far, so I guess I'm doing well then. For those of you who have been wondering. Yeah, I sort off enjoy putting Ein through so much. Maybe I have some sort of subconscious grudge against him, or his personallity, I don't know. Things will get better for him… maybe…

Anyway, please R&R if you want to.

Inner Fears

Chapter 5

"Who the Hell are you and how did you get in here?"

"I… I am the one responsible for all the suffering that has happened…"

"How can that be? You are one of us."

"Yes… I was."

"Was?"

"I died…"

"How… is that possible?"

"I was the one that unleashed the beast… It was an accident… I-I tried to flee, but… it killed me… And now, I am bound to this world until it is destroyed…"

"But what can you do to help?"

"Nothing… I can do nothing to aid you in defeating it. The reason I came here is to apologize for mistakes and plea for your help…"

"…I see."

"My lord, please, it must be stopped. If not, it will devour all life!"

"It was already my plan to stop it. I was asked to do so. It has been terrorizing the citizens of our land. My duty is to protect the people, so I have come to stop it."

"I… have a question to ask you, my lord. May I?"

"Yes, please speak."

"Forgive me for asking this, but, how did you… become like this?"

"…I was torn."

"Torn?"

"Yes. I tore myself apart. I let myself stray from my destined path. Now I – no, we must become whole again."

"I see, my lord. But will the other be able to do it?"

"I have no doubt that he will succeed. As long as I guard this place, he will become stronger again. For the last two years, he had let himself become weaker and more torn, but that is over now. The mending has begun. He will conquer all that what has made him like he is now."

"Do you think he will be strong enough again in time?"

"We can only pray for that…"

He saw something move in the corner of his eye. Quickly, Ein turned and let the arrow fly.

It impaled itself into the bark of a dead tree. He saw the shadow to his left. Turning, he saw a black shadow speeding away from him, over the dead wasteland. Ein's jaw almost hit the ground when he saw with what speed it was distancing itself from him. It had only been ten seconds or so, but the shadow was already several hundreds of meters away.

As the black shadow was becoming only a small dot in the distance, he noticed something ahead of it. He narrowed his eyes and saw something white. A large rock-formation perhaps? Or maybe even a building?

Ein didn't know what it was, but he knew that it was his next destination.

He walked over to the tree and tried to pull out the arrow. Unfortunately, it broke in two when he tried. The angel let out a deep sigh.

Tossing the arrow-piece away, he checked the quiver. "Only seven left…" he mumbled to himself. He strapped the bow and quiver back to his back, and then continued his journey.

He was still on his way. Dust formed every time one of his feet hit the ground.

This wasteland was even larger then he had thought at first. Pondering over this, a bizarre thought suddenly hit him.

…It almost seemed like it was growing. The wasteland may be expanding itself, slowly consuming the forest. It was a strange thought, but… the last two days had not been very normal either. Ein figured that the beast was somehow connected to this. Would that mean it is becoming stronger?

Maybe it feeds off the forest to strengthen itself. However, that would raise the question: how is feeding off the forest making it stronger?

Once again more questions and no answers. This was not helping. He had the questions, now he needs the answers. Maybe there were some answers ahead of him? Maybe there are, maybe there are not. Only the Gods know that at this point, and Ein doubted they would come and tell him.

Freaking huge.

That was a simple summary of Ein's thoughts at the moment. He stood before the largest cathedral he had ever seen in his life. There were no words to describe how big it was. In addition, it seemed to be very, very old.

Some parts of walls had collapsed or had large cracks in it. Pieces of the roof were missing; they probably collapsed and fell on top of anything that was beneath it. It looked like the large windows once held stained glass, but most off it was gone. Time had really taken its toll on this place.

Ein wondered what this cathedral was. He had never heard of such a place existing in the southern forests of Asgard. It was clear that it was build long before the Ragnarok war. It looked like it had been abandoned for ages. The angels back then must have been master building constructors.

He had a bad feeling about this place, but at the same time, he felt drawn to it. It was hard to describe. It was like a feeling, or an urge.

Slowly his feet began to move over the old tile path to the cathedral.

A few minutes later, he had arrived at the main entrance of the old cathedral. The great wooden doors of the entrance had almost completely rotten away, leaving nothing to stop people from entering its ground.

Ein marveled at the beautiful architecture - or what was left of it - of the building, as he entered. Several enormous stone columns supported the roof. At the far end of the cathedral, he saw some kind of platform with something on it.

He made his towards the platform. The floor consisted out countless small tiles. If you had to place them all by yourself, it would probably take you forever. There were rows of stone benches with three pathways between them. Some had been crushed beneath large pieces of the roof that had collapsed.

When he got closer, he saw that the platform was some kind of altar. There were a few statues on top of it, forming half a circle. The statues all had their arms outstretched to the same point, a small pedestal.

Ein climbed up the platform and walked over to the pedestal. On it was a very old book. It was opened for some reason. The angel hovered with his head over the book. On the pages, there were texts written, but he could not read them. It seemed to be written in some arcane language. A language that looked nothing like the sacred language of Asgard, or any other language he knew for that matter.

Ein raised his hand to turn the page of the book, but when he touched it, an indescribable pain surged through his entire body. He quickly jumped back, but tripped and fell on his butt. Looking at his hand, he saw small sparks of electricity.

What had just happened? The book seemed to be protected by some kind of spell, but why?

Before he could spend further thought on it, a loud laughing echoed through the building. Ein quickly rolled to his feet and drew his sword. What he saw next completely shocked him.

There, in the air, halfway the cathedral… was…

"Ledah…"

Instead of feeling joy, seeing his old friend again, Ein felt fear. Why was he afraid of Ledah?

Ledah raised his spear, Lorelei, and dashed through the air, towards Ein. Instinctively, Ein jumped out of the way, and of the platform. Ledah came to sudden halt in front of the pedestal when he had missed Ein, and turned around, while still hovering slightly above the ground. An almost maniacal expression was on his face. The wingless angel was stunned by this. Ledah had never showed such a disturbed expression. Ledah was always calm and rational. This could not be Ledah. Wait… this is not Ledah!

"Who are you?" Ein snapped at him. The man said nothing, but simply charged again with lightning speed. Ein was able to block the blow, but the force of the impact sends him flying backwards through the air. Quickly reacting, Ein made a somersault, and landed on his feet on top of one of the stone benches.

He was angry – no, furious.

Someone was impersonating Ledah! Someone was disgracing him! Someone was mocking his memory!

Ein would not let this continue. He would make this fake pay. Looking up, he saw the fake smiling evilly at him. It made him sick, even though it was not the real Ledah. As the fake Ledah charged at him once again with incredible speed, Ein leaped forward into the air. Their blades clashed, but because his opponent was moving much faster then he was, Ein was thrown backwards, again.

He crashed into one of the stone columns. Pain surged through his body as he fell to the ground, making a loud thud. Chunks of the column followed him, one rather large piece falling onto his lift arm, giving him even more pain then he already felt. He felt drained for some reason, and was barely able to open his eyes. The ceiling seemed to be spinning lightly. Footsteps could be heard. Slowly, they got closer, and closer, and closer, until he was right next to him.

Ein was able to turn his head. The fake stood there with raised weapon, ready to give him the final blow. As he looked at the fake's face, his eyes widened in surprise and he began to tremble. The eyes of the fake were crimson-red, but they were not the same as Ledah's crimson-red eyes. There were the same as…

"You…"

It brought the spear down. Ein felt it pierce the flesh of his chest. The spear went right through him, and into the ground. Coughing up blood, everything quickly became white before his eyes…

This was going to be the end?

To die at the hands of the beast, who had turned itself into a copy of Ledah somehow?

Was this really happening?

He felt… strange.

Like everything was all right.

It was still white before his eyes. Was this how it felt to be blind? Where was he?

I really end up in all kinds of weird places today…

He felt two warm slender things wrapping themselves around his chest. They were… arms? Now he also felt something warm press against his back. It felt incredible. He felt warm.

"It's alright, Ein," a sweet voice whispered in his ear. He knew this voice – no, he loved this voice.

How… How can this-?

"Shhh… don't talk. You need to become whole again."

But… how? I was beaten… killed…

"You are on the edge, but you can still go back… You need to face everything… in your mind."

My… mind?

"Yes, it's the only way. He already tried to help you, but it wasn't enough… Now you must go."

I… I… I have something to tell you…

"Shhh, tell me next time, ok?"

Ok…