Disclaimer: I don't own Riviera or anything in it.

Author's Notes: Yeah, here we go again. Have fun and please review.

Inner Fears

Chapter 6

The warmth was gone, and was replaced by chilly coldness. The calmness replaced by a depressed feeling and the white surroundings by a black abyss. Ein dreaded every minute he was here. He wanted to get away, back to the warmth… and her.

"I'm sorry, but you can't go back. Not until this is restored once and for all."

You… again?

"Yes, it's me again. It's unfortunate that it has come this far. I had hoped you could do it without further help, but it seems that I came to help you to late…"

I think I asked this before, but, who are you?

"That you haven't figured that out by now surprises me."

I had more important things to worry about.

"Ah, yes, of course. And I also erased that memory for the most part… Anyway, it won't be important after this, because, hopefully, we will never meet each other again."

Why are you doing this?

"It's not a matter of why. I do this because I must."

Must? By whom?

"By both of us."

You confuse me.

"It's not important. You need to focus for what comes now, your mending."

Mending… You mean to say that I am broken?

"You are shattered… and so am I. Now we must become whole again."

Whole… that's what she said too.

"Who?"

The woman I love.

"How can that be?"

Why are you so upset?

"This is not possible… But never mind. It's time to begin."

Alright…

"Very well. Just like last time I shall erase this meeting from your mind, you will only remember that you talked to me, but you won't remember anything specific about it."

I don't think I really have a say in the matter… But why do you do it?

"Because you need to focus. Farewell Grim Angel Ein."

…Farewell… me…

He blinked.

His vision was a bit blurry at first, but quickly it began to regain focus. Slowly, blurry colored shapes became clear to him. Where was he? The ground beneath his feet was hard and blood-red. The sky was a disturbing kind of black, with large black holes moving around in the distance. Every here and there you could see an old dead tree or two, but other then that there was nothing.

An eerie wind was blowing; causing the branches of the tree's to make creepy sounds, like several rocking chairs going back and forth…

Ein suddenly realized that his pain was gone, both from his older wounds and the newly gained chest wound. Looking down, he saw that his bandages were missing and that he had no wounds. Placing his gloved hand against his forehead, he noticed the bandage around his head was gone.

He let out a small sigh of relief when he saw that Einherjar was still hanging on the right side of his belt, where it should be. The bow and quiver with arrows however, were gone.

Ein just stood there for a while, almost completely motionless. What should he do now? He was sent here to mend himself, but the question is: how?

Footsteps could be heard. He drew his sword and took a battle-stance; his eyes began scanning the area for the source of the footsteps. It did not take him very long though.

Slowly, a young woman came shuffling towards Ein. Her eyes where almost blank, and her clothes were tainted with dirt and blood. Her long green hair was completely messed up and all kind of things like small twigs and leaves were entangled in it.

Ein just stood there, completely shocked by the sight until she tripped and fell forward. Quickly reacting, he dashed forward and managed to catch her.

"Fia?" he asked concernedly and confused, as if he was not sure if this girl before him was really Fia. She didn't respond, but instead lifted her head slightly and blinked a few times at him. Then, finally, she spoke, even though it was nothing more then a mere whisper.

"Ein…"

"Fia, what happened to you?"

"So much… pain."

"Please, stay with me."

"Why did you… abandon us, Ein?"

"W-what?"

"You abandoned us… You betrayed us… This is… because of you…"

"No… No, please stop," he said almost pleadingly.

"You are not worthy… of friendship…" Ein looked at her in complete disbelieve and shock. Then, suddenly, Fia's body became completely limb.

"Fia? Fia!" Ein shook her lightly, but it was already too late; she was… dead. "No… No, no, no!"

This was not happening. THIS WAS NOT HAPPENING! She could not be dead, no way! But, she was… and she blamed him for it.

Ein gently picked her body up and laid it against a dead tree. He closed her eyelids and then looked away. Tears were forming in his eyes, but he tried his best to blink them away. This was his fault. Again someone close to him died, and again it was most likely his fault.

A distant bang caught his attention. He stood back up and looked to his left, to the direction Fia had come from. There, in the distance, he saw a very, very large tree. The tree of life… and it was completely on fire!

It was as if Ein's feet had gained their own will. Before he knew it, he was running towards the burning tree. It was not the tree he was most concerned about, it was the town located near it. Ein ran like the ground was about to sink away beneath his feet.

Again. Again he was too late.

The town was completely ablaze, no tree or house was left unnoticed. As Ein made his way through the burning village, he quickly stumbled across the first bodies of deceased villagers. Most of them were facedown on the ground, several slash-wounds across their backs. They must have tried to flee, like Fia.

Rebecca, Claude, Molan, Kyle… All the villagers he knew were now dead. Then he suddenly spotted something yellow. He ran over to where Lina was laying on the ground, on her back with her head to the side, as if she was staring at something. Ein saw what she was looking at. Her bow was lying, broken, beneath a burning Applecot-tree. She had a large gash across her chest, streams of deep red blood still flowing out, staining her yellow top.

He just felt like puking and crying at the same time. After he closed Lina's eyes like he had done with Fia, he continued his search, hoping there was still someone alive.

He progressed through the burning town, his hope of finding someone alive sinking with every step.

This was a slaughter. Nothing more, nothing less.

Letting out a deep sigh, Ein turned his gaze towards the sky. Was it just him, or had the sky become even blacker? In the distance the moving holes seemed to have become bigger also. He wondered what this place truly was.

Faint sounds of clashing metal caught his attention. Then a battle-cry followed soon after. A battle-cry he recognized. Ein began running again, as fast as he could.

A minute or so later he had arrived, but it was already too late. He watched as the Serene came flying through some burning trees. She crashed into the side of a house, Lina and Fia's house to be precise. He watched her as she lay there completely limb.

Then he heard a cry of pain. One that almost caused his heart to stop beating.

Ein dashed forward, with drawn sword, to the spot where Serene had come flying through and jumped into the fires. He made it to the other side with only the sides of his clothing a bit charred.

Looking up, he saw his worst nightmare had come true. She was lying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood, which was even redder then her dress.

He knelt down beside her, after sheathing his sword, and gently lifted her head, supporting it with his arm. "Cierra," he said in a small, weak voice. A warm tear ran down his cheek, and was soon followed by others. She opened her eyes slightly and turned her gaze towards him.

"Ein…" she said wearily. A small stream of blood flowed out of the corner of her mouth. Cierra managed to lift her hand and place it against his cheek. Her glove was torn, exposing some of her bare fingers.

Ein gently grabbed her hand with own, free hand. "Cierra, I… I," he stuttered, not being able to say what he wanted to so desperately. She just smiled warmly at him as she closed her eyes. Then… her beautiful smile faded.

Ein began to cry uncontrollably, tears just gushing down his face and dripping onto the woman in his arms. He hugged her very tightly, as if he was trying to hug her back to life. Pressing his forehead against hers, he whispered to her. "Cierra… I love you…"

For, what seemed, the longest time, he just sat there with Cierra in his arms. Then his crying slowly came to a stop, and he loosened his grip on her slightly. Ein looked at her face. With his gloved thumb he wiped away the blood on her face. He bended over to kiss her on the lips, but at the last moment decided against it and instead kissed her forehead. Then he laid her back on the ground as gently as possible.

Standing up, he looked at her one last time before wiping his tears away, turning around and left.

Ein's heart was filled with hate and sorrow.

He was searching for the ones who were responsible for this massacre. They were going to pay dearly…

Ein found himself in front of the burning tree of life. Burning leaves fell all around him, but surprisingly none of them landed on him. It was as if they were avoiding him.

"You have come…"

He looked up and saw Ledah hovering up in the sky, near the tree. Lorelei was glowing brightly in his right hand. For some reason Ein was not surprised at all to see him. It was almost like already had known that he would be here. He just stared up at Ledah, unable to utter a single word.

"Now we shall see if you are truly worthy…" and with that Ledah dived down towards the wingless angel. Ein barely managed to evade the attack, jumping to the right. He drew his sword as Ledah turned around, now standing on the ground. The blonde angel made a high horizontal sweep with his weapon, aimed at his opponent's head, but Ein quickly dodged it by ducking. Then Ledah brought his spear down.

Their blades locked and they now stood closely face to face. "Fight," Ledah said to him.

"No," Ein responded. "I can't."

Ledah suddenly pushed Ein back with unbelievable strength, sending him flying backwards through the air. He flew through some trees and landed with a loud thud on the red earth. The second that he raised himself back to his feet, Ledah came flying through the fire and made another attempt to hit the young angel. Ein was able to block the attack, but it sends him flying through the air, again. This time he crashed into a house.

The wingless angel stood back up again, looking battered and a bit exhausted, panting slightly. As Ledah charged into the burning house, their weapons clashed again, producing a loud metallic sound. "You say you are not worthy," Ledah said to him while they were still fighting inside the house. "But that is just your excuse so that do not have to face your troubles. You must seek the answers. Even if they are not what you hope that they will be, you must face them and accept them."

"W-what?"

"You doubt your abilities and worthiness. If you are not worthy or strong enough, then you must work and do your best until you are… Don't run away, Ein, don't."

Ein lowered his sword slightly and gazed at the ground. Ledah was right. No more running. He must face the things he doubts. If they answers are not the ones he hopes for, then he must accept them. If he is not worthy enough, then he has to work to become worthy. He must do his best from now on, and stop running. Or else something like this might really happen…

Good...

Wait… this was not real?

It worked...

No, this could not be real. How could he have believed this for even a second?

My job is done...

Ein smirked at his own foolishness.

The mending is completed...

"Is something funny, Ein?" Ledah asked him in a serious tone.

"I see now how foolish I was Ledah. I have let myself become only a shadow of my true self. Running away from everything was stupid, now I know. Even if there are things I do not whish to do, I must still do it. I must face every challenge and obstacle that I will encounter, that is the only way to get anywhere in life. Even if I am scared… Even if I hate to do it… I must." He raised his sword and took a new battle-stance. "Thank you, Ledah… Now, shall we continue so that I can return to the real world?"

Ledah nodded, an almost invisible small smile on his face. The battle raged on, both of them fighting with every ounce of strength they had in their bodies.

In the end, Ein managed to win, barely. He looked up at Ledah, who was starting to disappear into bright sparkles. "Good work, Ein. You are a truly a worthy Grim Angel, but also, a worthy person."

"Ledah, please, don't leave again…" a teary-eyed Ein said. Ledah smiled at this.

"I was never really gone, Ein. As long as you remember me, I will always live on inside of you… Now it is time for you to face the final challenge."

"Now… we are one… again…"
His eyes snapped wide open, and he quickly reached for the spear piercing through his chest. With unknown strength he pulled it out and pushed it away, causing the beast to slightly lose balance.

Ein rolled away to the side, grabbing his Diviner in the process, and raised himself to his feet. Even though he was in indescribable pain, and a chest-wound were blood was still gushing out of, he raised his weapon with a look of pure determination on it.

"Bring it!"