Important Notice!: This chapter is a little more harsh than you've seen to this point in the story. There is some mild language, violence, and death. Please be aware of this before you start this chapter.

Arc II: Chapter Thirteen

Hour of Darkness (Part One)

Keiichi's legs were like rubber, and the helmet he thought was light a couple days ago now felt like it was made of lead. His pack was digging into his shoulders, cutting off circulation to his arms and making his fingers tingle. It was hard to keep a grip on the rifle in his hands, not that he knew much more than how to load and fire it. It had taken him several hours to figure out how to hook his right thumb over a loop on the front of his flack jacket while the M-16's pistol grip rested in his fingers. It took most of the weight of the rifle from his arms, and he suddenly felt as though he could carry it twice as far. At least as long as his legs held up.

Keiichi had turned to inform the Marine behind him about his discovery, only to see that the man's thumb was already in the loop. Glancing around, he could see that the majority were doing the same. He wondered how many other little tricks and techniques like that the Marines had.

Over the days of the march across southern Japan, he discovered some of those tricks to make life easier. The young college student was amazed at the system they had developed, with men stepping forward to take care of things that he hadn't even thought of, and they did it without anybody even saying a word about it. Setting up perimeters, taking turns eating so half the unit was ready for action at all times, getting small fires going to purify water for everyone. Keiichi was even surprised to find someone waking him five minutes early so he could have time to run a brush over his teeth and pack his sleeping bag and iso-mat.

He had also found himself shocked to see the endurance of the men he was traveling with. Very few of them fell back, and that usually happened toward the end of the day. The unit marched from first light until dusk, and sometimes later if Captain Ramos felt like it. Sometimes they ate while still marching, and if you had to relieve yourself, you did it as fast as possible on the side of the road and ran back to your place in the formation. The group had somewhere to be and they were going to push until they were there.

Twice on the first day and once on the second day Keiichi had begun to fall back. Every time he did the Marines around him grabbed his pack and pulled up on it, taking much of the weight off his shoulders. Once Gunny Taff had run over, passed his rifle to Keiichi, and taken the college man's pack, carrying it on top of his own for several kilometers as if it were no more than an extra canteen. He had embarrassedly apologized, but the Marines simply patted his shoulders and grinned, saying they hadn't expected him to last as well as he had. It made him feel a little better. Today though, he was determined to haul his own weight over the whole day. He wasn't going to be a burden on his comrades this time.

He grinned a bit at that thought. Comrades, huh? I hadn't thought of them like that until now. He certainly hadn't felt like part of the group when they started. The only ones who would talk to him were Rojas and Taff that morning, but as the young Japanese man struggled along, doing his best to keep up, the Americans quickly warmed up to him. Some of them, at least, but more than enough. Keiichi realized that he now felt like part of the unit. Almost like I'm a Marine, too. He chuckled a bit at that. Well, maybe that's going a little far. He hated to think how they would react if he told them he thought he was a Marine like them. That might be pushing the comrade envelope a little far.

"Hey, Morisato!"

Keiichi had to turn until he was very nearly walking sideways to see around the pack he was wearing. Awkwardly looking behind him, he saw the leader of the expedition, Captain Rojas, marching quickly up the side of the column of men. As the Marine began to match pace with him, Keiichi made his reply. "Yes, Captain?"

"How are you holding up? If the pack is wearing on you again, I'm sure Gunny Taff could take it for a mile or two." The darker skinned man looked at him with an odd mix of humor and professional concern.

"No!" he said a little faster than he had intended. "I mean, it's not that bad today." He tried to ignore the straps digging into his shoulders as he shook his head. His slightly too large helmet jostled around as he did. He noticed Rojas giving him a doubtful look. "Really, sir, I'm fine. I've just been thinking about home."

The Captain nodded his head, as if that had been the missing puzzle piece. "You miss your girl, er, your Goddess." He chuckled a little, giving a wry smile. "I'm still surprised you left with us, even if it's only for a while."

"I'm still a little surprised myself, to be honest," Keiichi replied frankly. "I think about Belldandy all the time. I feel guilty about leaving her like that, even for a week or two. I mean, she's so worried about her sisters, and now she has to worry about me, too."

"She's a strong girl, Morisato," Rojas told him, cutting off the other worries that had been building in him, "and I'm certain that she'll be happy to see you come back at the head of a group bringing civilians to the safety of Nekomi. I know I'm happy to have even one more rifle to help guard my family."

Keiichi stared at the other man for a moment. "I didn't know you had a family here in Japan."

"I didn't mention it before?" Keiichi shook his head, a surprised look on his face as Rojas beamed. "Yep. Two girls, Mayuka and Misato. One's five and the other's seven. God, it'll be good to see them again."

Looking at the proud parent, Keiichi couldn't help smiling. "Why do they have Japanese names?" he asked, curiosity helping him to forget the aches in his legs and shoulders.

"My wife, Keiko, wouldn't let me give them Spanish names," he chuckled. "She says they all sound stupid."

Unable to help himself, Keiichi laughed too. "Well, some foreign names are hard to pronounce."

"I suppose you're right." He clasped a hand on Keiichi's almost numb shoulder, "You sure you'll be alright?"

He nodded and his helmet slipped forward a little. "I'll be good for another couple kilometers," he said, hoping it was true. "How much farther?"

"We should hit Iwakuni an hour or two after dark at this pace. We'll make a stop in an hour or so, and then we'll try to push the rest of the way. After that, you can sleep until we get ready to go back to Nekomi." The Captain laughed as he gave the Japanese man a light punch on the arm.

Keiichi laughed back, "Don't think I won't take you up on that offer!"

Ramos' voice became more solemn as he spoke again. "But seriously, Morisato, I want to say thanks for coming with us. I know it's not easy for you, and you could have stayed home without anyone thinking worse of you. But you came anyway, and for that you have my gratitude. We can use all the help we can get."

He tried not to blush as he looked ahead. "Don't mention it."

"I understand, sir," Keos' voice almost echoed through the command center, "but are you sure about this?"

Daedalus shifted a bit. Just like he did when I asked the same question, Gil thought to himself. "Is there a problem, Keos?"

"No, sir, it can be done." There was a pause as a brief cackle of static played across the line. "It's just that, well with so many Templars out at once, we won't be able to defend even half of Nekomi. I'm all for going on the offense, but if the enemy happens to launch a raid at the same time…" He left the rest unsaid, but even the Goddess technicians, who had no military experience at all, knew what he was getting at. No one in the room appeared comfortable, not even the Lord Commander of the Templars.

"I understand that you feel like you are abandoning the humans, Keos," there was sympathy as he explained, "but if we don't gain some ground against the enemy, it won't matter anyway. We'll eventually loose the entire city, and then we'll have nothing to defend except Heaven itself." And even Heaven will fall eventually. Daedalus didn't say that out where all the Goddesses could hear, but he had told Gil and Ceres as much when he had first arrived. "This is our mission, Keos, and it is our job to make it happen. You and Lord Odin will lead our Templars to victory in this. I have great faith in you both."

"Thank you, sir," Keos answered more confidently this time, but Gil could still hear a trace of doubt. "We will give all that we have."

Daedalus nodded as if Keos could see him. "May the Templar stand victorious, and may the Order remember the glory won this day."

"May the glory and the honor of the Templar remain in the memories of Heaven forever." He could almost see Keos standing at attention, almost see him saluting his Commander. Gil couldn't help standing a little straighter.

Ceres stepped forward and gently touched Daedalus on the arm, drawing a quick look from him. He nodded, stepping back. The Lord Commander had said all he wanted to say.

"Keos, it's Ceres," she spoke aloud.

"Hey, Ceres," he responded, "I just want you and all your girls up there to know how much we appreciate all of you. I know some of my guys have a Goddess up there who he wants to come home to, so tell them that I'll do everything I can to bring every one back up to Heaven when this is all over."

Ere suddenly called up from her station, her voice a little tight. "You make sure that you come home, too!"

"Yeah, Keos, we're not going to let everything that's happened drive us all apart!" Chrono's voice very nearly cracked, and Gil could see a glistening in her eyes. "You and Gil, and Ere and I, we're all still going to be close friends after you guys have won!"

The God's laugh was distorted a bit as the interference struck again. "Don't worry guys, I plan on living long enough to enjoy being a hero. I'll have all the Goddesses fawning over me, for once." He paused for a second, and he sounded very serious when he added, "But don't you worry, as far as I'm concerned, you two have dibbs on this wonder of Godhood. Oh, and Ceres, you can throw your lovely name into the hat, too. In fact, I insist that we get together when I get back to Heaven!"

Gilgamesh suddenly noticed how far his jaw had dropped during Keos' little speech. It was all well and good that he was teasing Ere and Chrono, in fact it had brought a much needed grin to his face. But Lady Ceres!? Looking over, he saw that her mouth was open, too, and her entire face had colored. A quick glance at Daedalus revealed a Templar leader who was conspicuously trying not to look at anything as he obviously struggled not to smile. The absurdity of it all finally hit home and Gil exploded into laughter.

The rest of the command center wasn't far behind. Many of the Goddess technicians and operators at consoles throughout the room were giggling. Ere was holding her sides and Chrono was wiping tears from her eyes as she shook and quickly fell into another burst of mirth. Even Commander Daedalus was allowing himself a thoroughly amused chuckle.

Ceres was a little more composed about it, though her huge smile shone through the deep red of her blush. As everyone began to calm down, she spoke with as much dignity as she could muster. "You should be careful who you flirt with, Keos. A handsome young hero returning from war, you might wind up with a wife before you have a chance to enjoy your status."

"My God, Ceres, did you just propose to me?"

Everyone laughed again, and Gil realized how unlikely it all was. In short order they were all going to take a part in the plan to push back the Cruel Angel, to turn the tide of the war. If they failed today, it was over. Fighting to the end would merely be a formality, as the final result would be guaranteed. Still, even with all that weighing on them, or perhaps because of it all, they were laughing at Keos' strange humor. Laughing at the embarrassed look of Ceres as she struggled not to hide her face. Laughing for the sake of laughing. He realized just how good it felt to laugh so hard. It's like I'd forgotten.

Daedalus was still smiling when he cleared his throat, and the room quieted. "I hate to be the one to break up the fun, but we all have jobs to do."

"You're right of course, Lord Commander," Ceres agreed, smoothing out her layers of robes in an effort to calm herself. "Keos, please wish your men good luck for us."

"I will," he said simply.

"Our prayers are with you," she told him solemnly. "May the blessings of our Lord be with you all."

"Thank you. Well, I guess I'll talk to you all again when this is over. Until then." With that, the line disconnected. It was silent for a time, and Gil saw some of the Goddesses in the room give each other reassuring hugs. Chrono and Ere stretched across the space between their consoles to hold hands for a moment. Daedalus had bowed his head in a silent prayer, and Ceres quickly wiped tears from her cheeks as she moved to her command seat. He suddenly felt a chill, and pulled at his cloak without thinking.

Belldandy was nervous as she followed Peorth into what appeared to be a makeshift bedroom. Her mind would not rest since she had arrived at Yggdrasil, not since she heard Daedalus give his orders. It was difficult not to look a bit out of sorts when she told Gilgamesh to stay in the control center.

"Sorry about all that," Peorth said absently as she quickly searched the room, both physically and with her powers. "If I'd known this was going to happen…well, I don't know. Maybe there was no way around it."

Silent for a few moments, Bell watched the other Goddess scour the room. "Peorth, is it really going to work? Gilgamesh seemed uncomfortable with the idea, and I can't say that I'm very confident either. I mean, they still have Skuld, and Urd is out there somewhere, too. What if they are hurt when we attack?"

Her friend sighed sadly, but never slowed down in her search. "I don't mean to sound uncaring, but there's going to be whole lot of people hurt in this plan, even if things go in our favor."

"I know," she answered with a grimace, "I know that, but still I…I can't stop feeling so selfish."

"Belldandy, I know that you're worried about your sisters, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm worried about them, too, but we both know that there's more at stake here." She suddenly straightened up and, with a series of quick chants, blanketed the room with a powerful warding program. She glanced around briefly when she finished, seeming satisfied with her work. Bell simply blinked at her.

"You were looking for eavesdropping programs?" She looked at Peorth in confusion. "Peorth, please tell me what's going on. Why are you being so secretive?"

Running a hand through her dark hair, Peorth sighed again, looking very tired. "What I'm about to speak to you about isn't exactly official information. A lot of us could get into some very deep trouble if word got out. I won't forgive anyone who gets my girls into trouble, not even you Belldandy, so you have to promise me that you will be discreet with what you learn here."

"I will, Peorth," she nodded promptly, hand over her heart, "I promise."

The Goddess of Roses seemed satisfied, though she hesitated before continuing. "I know where Urd is." Bell's hand went to her mouth as all her worries were shoved aside. "Well, maybe know isn't the best word. We've managed to pick up on her energy patterns, but we can't localize them since they fluctuate so wildly." Peorth smiled a little at that. "I suppose that's to be expected, considering this is Urd we're talking about."

"Urd is…" Bell's voice shook as she struggled to speak. "Is she alright?"

"She's well enough to use her powers," Peorth answered, "which is really the only reason we have any idea where she is. Even so, the best we could do is an area that's around five square kilometers, quite a ways to the west of Nekomi. She's in there somewhere, we just need someone to go in and find her." Reaching out and giving Belldandy a pat on the shoulder, she gave another small grin. "Belldandy, I need you to find Urd for me."

Belldandy, for her part, was thunderstruck. She could find one of her sisters. She could know that Urd was safe and hold her as tightly as she wished her sister to hold her. But there was something that wasn't quite adding up. "Why are you trying so hard to find her, Peorth? It would almost be safer for Urd if no one could find her at all, not with the High Council wanting to put her on trial so badly."

Peorth's lips twisted a bit. "I don't believe things are quite as simple as the Council is making them out to be. It seems like some of them are acting stranger by the day, and I'm not sure that I trust them very far." She noticed the confused look Belldandy was giving her and shook her head. "Listen, you know as well as I do that even Urd wouldn't do something so…illegal, not without good reason. She knows something we don't, or at least she thinks she does, and I want to know what."

Bell swallowed at all she'd heard. "So what you are saying is that I should go find her so we can discover the truth of what she has done." Receiving a nod, she asked something that had been on her mind since first hearing Urd's name. "Is Sephiroth with her?"

"I would assume," she answered, "but we haven't detected any power signatures from him at all. He might not be using as much power as Urd, or he might not be able to use his power at all for some reason. Either way, I guess the answer is we don't know for certain."

A sort of chime rang through the room, and Belldandy recognized it as the PA system for Yggdrasil. As soon as it was over, the nervous voice of a young Goddess came through, "All personnel, prepare for power surge. I repeat, all personnel, prepare for power surge." There was a small pause before she spoke again. "May the blessings of our Lord be upon us all." It left the two Goddesses staring at each other.

"They're firing Gungnir already?" Peorth looked as surprised as Belldandy felt. Things were moving too fast for either Goddess.

"We should get back to the command center," Bell stated, though it was probably unnecessary. She received a nod and the two were racing out of the room and down the hall. Bell realized that she felt a distinct twinge of worry, and that twinge made her worry even more.

It was the feeling she had the last time she had seen her little sister, as she watched Skuld disappear into that gate to Earth.

Ceres was trying not to grasp handfuls of her own robes as her heart beat faster. She had just given the order to prepare for the attack at Chancellor Marduk's command. The leader of the Council of Heaven was standing at her shoulder, stone faced and yet somehow eager at the same time.

"Please, Lord Chancellor," she spoke to him quietly, "shouldn't we give the Templars a little more time to get underway?"

"There will be no more delays," he stated flatly, as if the plan had been set back many times before. "You must have faith in your Templars. Now begin the firing sequence."

Ceres nodded, her nervousness hardly placated. She had already watched as a platoon of Templars went to fight what should have been the only battle of this war, and all but one of them were slaughtered. "Target the center of the disturbances," she called out. Almighty, give me strength. "Yggdrasil, authorize Goddess First Class Ceres."

A female, slightly digitized voice responded. "Authorized." As the voice spoke a series of glowing, two dimensional designs rose from the floor in front of her. Each orange half circle was suspended a few centimeters above the one below it, and there was a similarly colored smaller arc opposite each one on the same plane. As a dozen or so of the discs appeared, the top one quickly came level with the lowest of her ribs. As soon as they stopped a slender metal object began to rise through the center of the disks.

"Chancellor, isn't this…" Gilgamesh's statement was overwhelmed by Daedalus' voice.

"Chancellor," the Lord Commander said, with a brief look at his subordinate. Gil shut his mouth. "Chancellor, are you certain this is the best way? There can be no going back. If we fail, it could mean the end of Heaven."

"I'm aware of the risks, Daedalus," Marduk answered dryly, "and it is not your place to question the will of the Council. Your job is to carry out the plan I gave you, is it not?"

Ceres could see the Commander's jaw clench, but he responded with a tight, "Yes, Lord Chancellor, and I will follow the Council's will to the letter."

"Good," Marduk said with a grin, before his tone softened. "Don't worry, my friend, everything will go exactly to plan. You'll see." She thought it sounded as though the Chancellor was speaking to a child rather than a friend or peer.

Out of the corner of her eye Ceres saw Peorth and Belldandy enter. The two went to stand near Gilgamesh, and he whispered to them briefly. Probably briefing them on what they had missed. Lord, I wish I could have missed it, too.

"Lady Ceres!" She whipped her head around at Chrono's exclamation, but by the time she had looked at the junior Goddess, Chrono looked very unsure of herself. "Oh…"

She waited for a moment before verbally nudging the girl to continue. "What is it, Chrono?"

"Uh, well for a second I could have swore," she trailed off again, then shook her head and looked up at Ceres. "I thought I saw an anomaly in the Haguruma, but I can't find it now." The young Goddess seemed to suddenly notice the heated look she was getting from Marduk and began fidgeting. "It…it might have just been a glitch."

"Are you sure?" Ceres was feeling even more butterflies in her stomach now. It seemed like every tragedy or major setback in this war had happened on her watch.

"She said it was a glitch," Marduk stated impatiently. "Now are you going to commence with the operation as planned, or must I have Peorth relieve you?"

It seemed like everyone in the command center was either trying to hide or was staring in open wonder at what was happening. How can he be so imperious when everyone is scared to death? "No, sir," she told him, wrapping herself as tightly as she could in her professionalism. "That will not be necessary." He must know what he's doing. He's the Chancellor after all, and the Almighty gave him permission to carry out the mission as he saw fit. I must have faith.

Taking a deep breath, she faced back to the column of disks. There was now a slender rod through the orange circles and a round, flat top even with the highest disk. "Ordering activation of Gungnir."

"Order confirmed," came the computer's voice as the flat top reformed itself into an oblong shape with the larger end pointing up.

"Take aim." She took a step forward, bringing her within arm's reach of the trigger.

"Taking aim," it responded.

Ceres moved her hand over the silver button. It was trembling. We have to win. Lord please let the Chancellor's plan work! She closed her eyes and brought her hand down.

She could hear the power drain on the system for perhaps a second before the alarms went off.

Her eyes flew open to see several red bordered screens appear on the central display. No, no, please no! "What's happening?" Not a trace of her fears made it into her voice.

"There's a problem with the Gungnir program!" Chrono yelled.

Ere followed quickly, "The target coordinates changed the instant the program activated. I'm trying to find the new attack zone."

The Goddess in charge did her best to fight off a feeling of doom that she felt surrounding her. "Abort the program!"

"I'm trying," Chrono answered as her hands flew across her console, "but it's not accepting any new commands!"

"Keep trying," she told them, though there wasn't much chance. If it could be done, they would tell her.

"There's an unauthorized gate in the queue," Chrono spoke again. "I don't know the coordinates on Earth, but it looks like this end will materialize near the Great Falls in less than five minutes. It must have already been forming before Gungnir was activated!"

Daedalus' voice boomed in, "I'm going to the gate. If they get into Heaven, it's all over. Gilgamesh, come with me."

Peorth broke in. "No, Commander, we need him here! If something happens to Yggdrasil…!"

"Fine, there's no time to argue anyway. Gilgamesh, protect this place with your life."

"Lady Ceres," Ere spoke again, agitation filling her voice, "Gungnir, its new target…it's Iwakuni, Japan!"

"Stop it!" Ceres commanded, even as she heard Belldandy behind her saying 'No!' over and over.

"It's too late," Chrono said, and the whole room went quiet. "It's firing now."

He tried not to blush as he looked ahead. "Don't mention it." Suddenly he realized that something looked strange about the view before him. It took him a minute before he realized it was sort of a distortion in the sky.

"What the hell is that?" someone asked.

"What are you asking me for? I'm not a friggin weather guesser."

"Well, whatever it is," Ramos said to no one in particular, "it looks like it's right over the base."

Keiichi couldn't stop looking at it, thinking he'd seen it before. The clouds quickly swirled and opened, and his heart stopped as a huge ball of light was ejected from the anomaly. Oh, God. I have seen this before! Keiichi didn't realize he had stopped until the Marine bumped into him. "You alright?" the Marine asked in English.

He understood the man, but he couldn't get his mouth to work. Others fielded a new set of 'What's that?' questions, and he vaguely noticed Taff bringing the two columns to a halt. He felt Ramos give him a firm shake on the shoulder as he gave a concerned look. "Morisato? What's wrong?"

Keiichi tried to think what to tell the man. Someone else was speaking in the background, "That thing's getting awfully close to…"

The flash was nearly blinding, and Keiichi heard a slew of curses as he turned away, blinking in hopes the light spots would go away. "Right flank!" somebody yelled, just before the deafening explosion reached them.

The ground shook beneath his boots, enough to rattle his teeth but not so much to cause him to lose his footing, though the pressure wave from the explosion nearly did. Looking over again, he was shocked to see flashes coming from rifles as some of the Marines fired into the trees to the right of the highway. He blinked again as the light spots began to fade. He hadn't even heard a single shot.

Shrugging off his pack, his heart beating in his throat, he joined an increasing majority of the Marines running over to the right column. He pushed his helmet back off his eyes twice as he ran, and tripped over a small crater in the asphalt. As he made it to the line, some of the men were already discarding their first magazine, and he could see the first of the monsters charging out of the forest. He thought he could almost feel the concussion from the rounds being fired all around him. Or maybe it was his imagination? He saw men yelling, bellowing their cries of battle. He still couldn't hear anything.

Raising his rifle, he aimed at one of the large, bloated humanoid things. Nearly closing his eyes as he pulled the trigger, he went a little off balance it didn't budge. "Damn it!" he yelled when he realized it hadn't fired, though he didn't hear himself. Looking down, he flipped the selector from safe to fire with his thumb as he had been told. Raising it again, he pulled the trigger. And kept pulling, and kept pulling. He began to wonder what was wrong this time when the round finally went off. I didn't realize you had to pull the trigger so far!

With no idea where the first round went, he lined up again and began firing. It was hard to tell if he was hitting the creature at all, but he thought maybe half the rounds had struck home, or one of the ones next to it. It was all too soon that his trigger pulling was getting him nothing. Realizing he was empty, he tried to remember how they taught him to reload.

Press the button on the side and slide the magazine out…easier said than done! For some reason his magazine stuck for a moment before finally coming free so abruptly that it flew from his hand. Screw it! New magazine… He fumbled with one of the pouches on his flack jacket, managing to free a full clip without dropping the second magazine in that pouch to the ground. Looking up at the oncoming creatures, he nearly tried to insert the magazine upside down. Damn it, come on! Come on! The magazine hit home, and he quickly pressed a different button, closer to the trigger. He felt the bolt slide home, slamming a round into the chamber.

Without a second of delay he brought the weapon back up and was firing into the closest enemy. He saw where his rounds struck, and he only vaguely took note of the bits of flesh that flew from the creatures as they were hit. He only cared when one of them went down. By the time he discarded his second magazine, he had seen seven of them fall. But there were twice as many still coming right in front of him, and that wasn't counting the ones down the line to his left and right.

It was looking down the line to his left that saved his life. The monsters were coming out of the trees further down the road, toward Iwakuni. He never would have seen them coming if he hadn't glanced that way while reloading. None of the others seemed to, except for Captain Rojas.

Unloading on the monsters in that direction, the officer paused only long enough to haul one of his Marines up by the collar of his vest and push him back the other way. He was ordering his men to regroup, and trying to keep them from being outflanked. The Marine was coming down the line, grabbing shoulders and yelling in the chaos about their exposed side, and the men began to break off and head back down the road toward Keiichi.

Looking again at the forest, Keiichi cursed and ran to help the Captain. The Marines he ran past to get there yelled at him, probably to tell him to stop, but he still couldn't hear. He knew he couldn't leave the man to fight for himself.

As he approached, Ramos fired a grenade from his under barrel. Keiichi could actually see it fly for a split second before it detonated on one of the oncoming enemies. As he lowered his rifle to reload, though, three more of the monsters came stalking out of the smoke. All three were spattered with the thick, oily blood and flesh of the dead one, but they continued on as if nothing at all had happened. If anything, they almost seemed to be smiling. Keiichi shuddered as he stopped next to the Captain and began firing.

For a second, he thought he heard Ramos' voice, but when he glanced over the man was aiming again. Another grenade exploded in front of them, closer this time. Keiichi definitely felt the explosion that time. The monsters were getting closer, too close. He looked over at the officer, wondering when he was going to fall back. Ramos had his teeth bared at the enemy with hatred so powerful that any other time Keiichi would have taken a few steps back. But even as his visage was twisted with rage, tears were streaming down his cheeks.

Keiichi looked forward again as he finished loading his third magazine. They were only a few meters away now. We have to move! Reaching out, he grabbed at Ramos, only to have his arm batted away. Before he knew what was happening, the man shoved him back with surprising strength. As he stumbled backward, he thought he heard him yell, "Go back to your Goddess, Morisato!"

Stumbling backward, off balance, he nearly ended on his rear before something yanked him up by his vest, pulling him further away from the Captain. "C'mon! We've got to move!" Taff's voice sounded a kilometer off, but he realized it was he who was pulling Keiichi along.

"No!" Keiichi yelled over his shoulder, his stupid helmet repeatedly sliding over his eyes when he tried to look over his shoulder at Taff. "We have to help him! We can't just leave him there!"

Even as he pleaded, he saw the creatures get to the man. He fired off another grenade, close enough this time that Ramos nearly fell over from the blast. Not bothering with the grenades any more, he fired his bullets intently into the remaining monsters. He couldn't have been far from an empty clip when the thing grabbed his leg in its pincer like claw. He fell as the thing snipped his leg off at the thigh. Keiichi wanted to cry as he watched the man feebly pull out his knife. Another of the creatures was on him now, stabbing him through the abdomen as he tried to do the same to it. The knife was falling from his hand as another one stepped into Keiichi's line of sight, blocking Ramos from view.

"Damn your mother, Morisato, get up!" Taff yelled at him as he yanked Keiichi upright. "I can't carry you the whole friggin way! Get up!"

Keiichi swallowed as he finally regained his balance. Taff had nearly drug him backwards for almost ten meters. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Marine he had been standing over the shoulder of before. The man was nearly unrecognizable, his insides all over the road. Two more of the bloody creatures were there, making their way toward them.

Spinning around to Taff, he saw that there were at least five of the monsters between them and the remaining Marines further down the road. He almost laughed.

"Don't loose it now, Morisato!" Taff shook him, "Hey, stay sharp god damn it!" Keiichi looked at his hard face, tiny flecks of blood sprinkled across it. It seemed like someone had carved him out of wood for all the emotion he was showing.

But somehow, looking into that face, Keiichi realized just how unreal reality could seem. Despite the pounding of his heart, he didn't feel scared. He didn't feel much of anything, really. He knew his legs were still rubbery from the march, his shoulders still hurt, his throat ached from the cold air he was rapidly sucking in, but none of it really seemed to matter. He simply nodded his head.

Suddenly noticing a metal ring in the man's teeth, Keiichi watched him toss a grenade he didn't even know was in Taff's hand. As it rolled forward toward the creatures in their path he knelt, crouching as low as he could. Keiichi followed suit just before the explosive went off. Something ricocheted off his helmet, and he felt a tiny sting in his right thigh and his left forearm. In an instant he was back on his feet, plunging blindly through the smoke after the older man and shooting the gap they had just created in the enemy line. He nearly fell when he stepped on the still writhing body of one of the creatures, but the stumble only lasted a few steps.

A dozen Marines had formed a new line further down the highway, kneeling and firing at whatever targets they could. Hurtling past them, Taff yelled for them to fall back. Jumping after him, Keiichi's boot brushed the shoulder of a Marine as he flew past. He realized that he, too, was yelling for the Marines to follow. He wasn't sure how many of them understood his Japanese, but at the very least they had heard Taff and they were starting to sprint after them.

Keiichi's hearing was returning slowly, and he could barely hear his boots as they struck the highway. He glanced over his shoulder, past the Marines following, beyond the twisted beasts tracking them, to the angry orange glow that was Iwakuni. God, what did we come here for?

"This way!" Taff has peeled off to the left, leaving the highway and leaning on a tree as he motioned the others into the woods. Some dove into the foliage without pause, but some, like Keiichi, hesitated at plunging into the same forest the Cruel Angel's horde had attacked from. At least none of the enemies had emerged this far down the road. "We can loose them in the woods," he yelled, glancing at the men, "now go! Move, damn it!" He fired at the approaching creatures, hardly slowing them at all.

Ignoring the man, Keiichi knelt nearby and steadied his aim. "I'm not leaving you here!" Firing several shots, one of his rounds hit the lead creature in the head. He thought he might have killed it, but it only staggered for a few seconds before continuing toward them. Now it was third closest.

"Damn it, Morisato!" Taff moved over and pulled him up. "I'm right behind you, now move!" He punctuated his order by shoving Keiichi into the trees, and he hesitated only a second before following his momentum in. True to his word, Taff was only a few steps behind.

They ran through the thick growth, stumbling through the tangle of mostly dead vines and brush and limbs for what seemed forever. He was starting to wheeze, and the stumble wasn't just because of the overgrown forest.

"Slow down, Morisato," Taff told him, just short of yelling. "We can't sprint forever. Besides, you've been out of ammo for the last half mile." It almost sounded funny, but neither of them smiled. The Marine stopped and knelt down on the edge of the clearing that Keiichi was almost to the other side of, pulling another magazine from a pouch on the back of his vest. Keiichi grabbed his last one from its pocket and was trying to seat it into his weapon with a shaky hand when he saw movement.

"Taff, behind you!" His yell made the man spin, firing as the creature came through the branches like they weren't there. Keiichi was sending the bold forward as the thing wrapped a tentacle around Taff's leg. It whipped him up and flung him halfway across the clearing, and Keiichi was already firing on it by the time the Marine landed with a loud grunt.

He had fired around fifteen shots before Keiichi realized he was screaming at the thing. It was as if he was trying to scare it, assuming the bullets wouldn't do that if it were possible. But he yelled anyway, and kept yelling when the trigger went slack and the rounds stopped coming. He looked at the rifle, angry that it would fail now, and threw it to the ground as he charged the staggering monster. He started to yell again as he freed a large fighting knife from its sheath on his leg.

His anger, his hate for the thing filled him. It was a representative of the Cruel Angel, the evil that had destroyed their lives, who had scattered Belldandy's family. Belldandy… For a moment, as he ran at the creature with knife in hand, he remembered leaving Nekomi. Remembered the tears in her eyes as he left. I won't let you take me! I'm going back to her, no matter what!

Gil watched, helpless, as chaos reigned in the control center. The Goddesses were all working furiously to discover what had happened.

"Keiichi," Belldandy muttered softly, "oh, Keiichi…" Her legs had gone out from under her as soon as it all happened, and wasn't moving except to rock back and forth a little. He still held her hand, but she acted as if there was nobody else in the room. "Keiichi, you can't be…"

"Peorth," Ceres called, "have you contacted Nekomi yet?"

"I'm trying," she responded from a terminal that was floating a few meters in the air and off to the right. "The line's working, but no one is answering. It could just be that there's nobody at the temple."

"Keep trying," Ceres told her. "We have to let them know that it's a trap."

Trap? Gil considered that a moment. If it was a trap, then the one who sprung it… He looked around suddenly. "Where the hell is the Chancellor?" It had been less than a minute, and the man was nowhere to be seen. Ceres looked back at him, looking like she had just been kicked in the ribs. He had an idea how she felt.

"Ma'am, I just saw another anomaly in the Haguruma!" Chrono sounded like she wanted to cry, but she held steady. "That has to be it! There's got to be someone down there!"

Ceres floated over to the center console. "Ere, can you confirm?"

"No," she answered shakily. "It'll be another minute or two, but it makes sense. It's the only thing that does."

Gil spoke over the chatter of voices in the room. "You mean the one who did this is down in the Haguruma? That's why all this happened?"

Hesitating for a moment, Ceres nodded. "It seems that way, Gilgamesh."

"Then I'm going down there," he stated flatly, his anger rising, "and I'm going to kill the son of a bitch!" Normally a Templar who used that kind of language in front of a Goddess could expect a dark look at best, a slap in the face at worst. No one even seemed to notice, now.

"Gilgamesh, be careful," Peorth called from her raised platform. "If this happened while the Chancellor was in here, then it's possible that there's two of them down there. Maybe more."

"I understand," he spoke before he looked down at the trembling Goddess beside him. "Look after her for me, will you?"

Peorth nodded. "I will. Good luck."

He gave Belldandy a quick hug, feeling sorry that he couldn't do more, before he stood. He found Ceres standing there, looking at him sadly. "Please, please be careful, Gilgamesh," she told him quietly before she gently put a hand on his cheek. The sandy haired Goddess floated up a bit and pressed her lips to the blue mark on his forehead. "I do not wish to loose anyone else on my watch."

Taking her hand from his face, he gave it a squeeze. "I'll be back soon enough. I guarantee it." With that he turned and flew from the huge chamber that was Yggdrasil's control room. I'm going to make them pay for this travesty! I'm going to make them suffer!

"Alright, Erg, get going." Keos patted the armor covered shoulder of his friend. "Be careful out there. I'll see you tomorrow."

Ergaddas grinned back. "Just don't go trying to be a hero, Keos. I don't know if I could live without your ugly face waking me every morning!"

The pair chuckled, as did some of the nearby Templars. "When did you start stealing my material?" He gave a friendly push to start the other God on his way. "You'd better have some new jokes by the time you come back!"

Keos watched his friend float away from the roof of the building they were standing on. Half of the Templars floated off after him, heading toward the edge of the city, while the rest stood there, smirks still on their faces and watching their leader for his next order. He slowly turned in a circle as he took in the seven young Templars. He managed to keep from grimacing as he was again reminded just how short handed they were.

Only one other member of his team was a First Order Templar, the other six Gods were of the Second, and none of them were close to ready for promotion. Well, they will be after this little excursion.

Keos had intentionally put together the weakest team for two reasons. On the one hand, it let him leave six more First Order Templars to help guard the city. On the other, he was determined to keep these men alive, and their best chance of that lay with him. He was the best fighter in Nekomi, except for Odin, and the First Templar wasn't going on the raid, so that left Keos.

"Well, men," he spoke confidently, "we're the last ones out. What does that mean?"

One of the Templars answered, "That we'll be the last ones back?"

"That's exactly right," he smiled at them, turning to look each of them in the eye. "We're going to stay out there as long as it takes to get our fair share of the bad guys. To do that, though, I'm going to need every one of you on your toes the entire time. Look to your left," he told them, and though they didn't seem to understand why, they complied. "Now look to your right." The circle of God followed his instructions. "Those men beside you, your brothers, are counting on you as much as you are counting on them. Do not let them down." They all smiled and nodded at him, a gleam of self-assurance in their eyes. He was about to tell them to move out when he felt something.

Looking out in the direction Ergaddas' team had gone, he squinted, trying to figure out what he was feeling. He thought he was imagining things for a moment before he saw the thin trail of smoke rising from the trees. His men were looking at it too, and they began to murmur when three lighting bolts struck not far from the column of thickening black.

"Hey, looks like the first fight of the operation goes to them," someone laughed, drawing some chuckles from the others.

But that doesn't make sense. All the other teams left the same way not five minutes before Erg's team, so how did everyone else miss this group of enemies? In the far off distance, more lightning could be seen, but just barely. It was spread out, striking a much wider area. This doesn't make sense.

"Listen up, men," he spoke to them, taking another few seconds to take his eyes off the horizon, "we're going to be going out a little later than I thought. Split into pairs and spread out across the line. You," he pointed at the First Order, "go find Lord Odin and tell him we're still in the city. I'll come get you all when we're ready to leave." He noticed that his voice held a small amount of the unease he was feeling. Just as well, I suppose. Maybe it'll put them in a more ready state of mind.

"But, sir," one of the younger Templars spoke up, "we've got our orders from the High Council! We can't just disobey like that!"

Keos irritably rounded on the God, who looked hardly old enough to be wearing the sword at his belt. "When you join the First Order, then you can question my decisions," he growled, "but until then, I'll be devil cursed if I let-aaaah!"

His thoughts blanked out for a moment as he struggled to stay upright. It felt as though someone had strapped an air horn to both his ears, only it wasn't a simple blast of sound he heard. A thousand voices dug into his soul, lashing him with the most foul and evil things he had ever heard. They promised pain like he had never known, and not just for him. He could see flashes of his men screaming as they were picked apart by the Cruel Angel's monsters. He saw Yggdrasil on fire, and the terrified looks of the children of Heaven as the monsters swung the killing blow. He saw Urd and Marler, their heads raggedly shaven and faces cut. Metal spikes were driven through their forearms and stomachs, pinning them to the cold rock surface as a horrific creature reached forward to pluck out their eyes.

His eyes opened, and he was back on the rooftop, his men staggering around him, pale as a linen sheet. The young Templar before him was crying, murmuring for them to spare him. A surge of fury took him as Keos grabbed the whimpering God and slapped him twice. There was silence for a moment as the young God looked at Keos with fear.

"We'll be lucky if what we just saw will be the end of it," he held the God tightly by the neck of his armor. "There will be no mercy for any of us, or the ones we care about. We will win, or there won't be anyone left to weep for the damned!"

They all stared at him, some swallowing nervously, others clenching their fist as angrily as he did. He gave one last look at the Templar he had a hold of before pushing him toward one of his less frightened teammates. "Go, all of you. Get to the line and make sure it holds. If any of you lets the enemy through, I'll make you wish the Cruel Angel did have a hold of you. Move!"

They all put their fists to their chests in salute, even the one Keos had hit. They yelled back "Yes, sir!" before darting away through the air.

He watched them go for a moment before he sucked in a quick breath, doing his best to swallow a sob that nearly broke out of him. Wiping his face with both hands, he drew several more shuddering breaths, trying to push away the images he had seen. "No, no I can't waste time like this," he whispered. "I have to fight, I have to win!" Looking back at the edge of the city, he grit his teeth.

Lifting off the rooftop two brilliant, white-feathered wings grew from his back, pushing his cloak between them. Flying toward the defensive line of the Templars, he saw the sky darken, and the rumbles of thunder threatened rain. It almost seemed as if the Cruel Angel himself had come for a firsthand viewing of the battle. "We win, or there won't be anyone left to weep for the damned."

The ancient gears slowly turned as Gil floated through the dark spaces of the Haguruma. Pitted iron grated against itself as the cogs continued their work, as if they didn't realize they had been abandoned centuries ago.

Floating through the maze of grate-metal catwalks, sword firmly in hand, the Templar wondered how the Celestials of old had managed to find their way in such a place. I wonder if I can find my way enough to get out of here? He pushed the question to the side without much thought. He could worry about that when he had done what he came here to do.

Adjusting his grip on the no-dachi, he kept looking and listening, straining to find some clue as to the whereabouts of his prey. So far only the rhythmic knocking of the clockwork system filled his ears, and he could hardly see anything with the few lights that still functioned after nearly a thousand years.

He froze in mid air. Something wasn't right.

"Oh, ho ho!" The voice echoed all around him. It was taking a great deal of effort to keep from spinning his head around in a frantic search. "I guess you've noticed my presence."

Something was definitely wrong. He had heard this voice before, but it wasn't the Chancellor's. "Who are you?" He spoke as if to someone right in front of him, but whoever it was seemed to hear him just fine.

"Oh, come now, Gil," the voice echoed again, "surely you haven't forgotten my voice already! It hasn't been that long."

He hesitated, gripping his sword till his knuckles hurt. It's just a trick. "Stop playing games with me." He couldn't stop himself from turning in place, scanning the darkness around his catwalk as he snarled angrily at his unseen enemy. "Show yourself, you coward!"

A heavy sigh pierced the darkness after a moment. "Poor little Gil," the voice said. "So angry, but then, I suppose you always had a bit of a temper. Fine." Suddenly the echoes disappeared, and the male speaker's voice was clearly coming from above. "I'm up here, little bro."

Suppressing a shiver as the chill shot down his spine, he swallowed hard before soaring up through the darkness. His wings had appeared before he rose over the edge of the metal platform, and seemed to slow his descent as he lowered himself to the solid iron plates with a tink.

There were several large, toothy gears, each roughly three meters in diameter, that were protruding from beneath the platform, turning quickly enough that little dust had settled on them like the nearby controls. Still, their rotation could hardly be called fast, perhaps one revolution per minute. Not all the lights worked here, either, and nearly a third of the large area was shrouded in a deep darkness.

"Well, now, why were you so anxious to find me?" The voice came from the darkness. Gil looked that way, but was ready for another trick.

"Were you the one who retargeted Gungnir?"

A brief chuckle answered. "Why yes, that was me. I had some help with the Hell Storm, but I suppose you could call that my work as well."

Gil shrugged his shoulders as a swirl of mist surrounded him. Lasting little more than a second, it vanished just as quickly. His white and blue armor covered him as the Templar began to step forward. "And the gate to Earth that's forming? Is that your doing, too?"

"No," the man corrected him, "that was the Chancellor's work. He's the one who showed me how to work things down here. He's been around for a long time, that man, long enough to remember working down here before the current version of Yggdrasil was brought online."

"So the Chancellor was in on all this," Gil stated. "But why? Why try to free the Cruel Angel? He knew what it was, what would happen. Why did he do it?"

"Oh come on, Gil," the voice sounded disappointed in him. "Why does anyone betray their loyalties? The Almighty is generous, but he will only allow so much power in the hands of his servants. By any story or account you read, the Cruel Angel's power rivaled the Almighty, and that was without a surprise attack. Marduk probably figured that the Cruel Angel would reward him if he assured total victory for the Master. I guess all we have to do now is see if the Master delivers."

"You talk as if the war is over," Gil stepped forward again, readying himself to attack.

"The war is over, little bro," he said, sounding as if he were explaining that water was wet. It grated on Gil's already frayed nerves. "The war was over a month ago, the same day I came to serve my new Master."

Gilgamesh was nearly growling. "Enough! Come out and face me!" He raised his sword, extending it out toward the darkness, daring his opponent to come.

The laugh came again from the darkness. "Oh, little bro, you haven't changed at all, have you? Still clinging to your sense of honor and fighting fairly. Challenging your enemy to a fair duel, as if I would fight fair. Oh, alright, Gil. I'm in no hurry." A glint appeared in the shadows and slowly began to move closer. The metal clunk of his boots rang loudly as the form marched slowly forward, and his no-dachi became more visible the closer he drew. Gil could see that the man was shrouded by the same kind of black cloak as the God he had fought at Yokosuka. "By the way, little bro, I must thank you."

Gilgamesh was growing tired of this little bro nonsense. Surely this fool doesn't expect me to fall for such a stupid trick? He made a disgusted sound. "Thank me for what, you bastard?"

"I wanted to thank you for giving my ring to Ex," the form replied, stepping further from the shadows. "She was wearing it when she died. Somehow it made me feel good to watch the light begin to fade from her eyes with that thing on her finger."

Another chill hit him, and Gilgamesh could barely keep his sword from wavering. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

The space under the dark hood seemed to brighten, and Gil could swear the man was smiling. "You don't know, do you? They never told you what Sephiroth saw…I suppose it's to be expected since they didn't believe him." With a flourish, the man threw back his hood. "It's me, little bro!" Gil's sword did waver this time.

Xander stood there before him, that signature smile on his face. But his face was scarred, and a patch from his left eye to the corner of his mouth to his left ear seemed not to be made of flesh at all. It looked more like layers of old, rotting paper than skin. Only patches of his spiky golden hair remained, and his left hand didn't seem to be a hand at all. It was more of a fleshy lobster claw.

Gilgamesh felt his stomach lurch. He thought he would be sick, but not because of the unnatural corruptions he saw. It was because it was his friend, his brother that had been corrupted. It was Xander. No one else could have known about the ring. He hadn't even told Skuld about it. His mouth worked, trying to form words from a mess of thoughts, but nothing came out.

A small sound of metal touching metal rang in Gil's ears like cymbals as Xander's sword touched his. "Well now, Killer, let's see that warrior's spirit." He cocked his head a little when Gilgamesh didn't do anything but stare at him. "I suppose you really didn't know, eh? So how about it, bro? Are you still going to fight me?"

"Xander," Gil managed with a weak voice, "it doesn't have to be like this. You can come back to us." The corrupted God laughed loudly.

"There's no going back, Gil, not for either of us."

Gil managed to keep his sword in front of him. "Xander, I don't want to fight you."

"Too bad, little bro," he replied in a cruel voice. "If you aren't going to get things started, then I will."

With a flash of steel Xander knocked Gil's sword away to his right. A backhanded slash came at him and Gil frantically arched backward, watching it as it swung barely more than a centimeter over his chest and nose. The clawed left hand of his friend came arching downward quickly afterward. Letting his power fill him, Gil shot out from under the blow, hearing the metal plates tear as the claw struck. Flying backward, Gil saw his sword still flying through the air to the right, almost as if things were going in slow motion.

I can't fight Xander! He's the closest thing I've ever had to a brother! No, he's not Xander anymore. If he killed Ex, then he can't be. I have to fight him.

Flipping backward, his boots struck the guard rail hard. He could feel the tubular metal groan and bend under the pressure as he looked up at his friend. No, he's not my friend anymore. Xander was smiling, waiting for him. Gil's sword still spun through the air.

Launching off the rail, he raced toward his target like a blur. Leaning into the attack, a still smiling Xander swung his sword at the oncoming Templar. As he drew near, Gil activated a miniature shield program that Odin had taught him. Two glowing blue magic circles, each only slightly larger than his hand, appeared over each palm. His left hand went to block the sword strike while his right pushed away the claw. His boots landed squarely against Xander's midsection as Gil slammed his forehead into the other God's face.

He heard Xander curse in pain as Gil pushed off with his feet, flying nearly ninety degrees off his attack course. In an instant he grabbed his own sword from the air, only a hair from hitting the ground, and spread his wings wide. In another instant he twisted around and landed against an undamaged rail. He squatted there for a moment before rising, standing on the narrow guard rail as if it were just another catwalk.

"You underestimate me," he stated flatly, "big brother. If you think you can use my emotions against me, you are sorely mistaken. I have other people to save, people that I can save, so I can't let myself get killed here." No matter how much it hurts. I have to save Skuld, no matter what the cost to me.

Xander chuckled a little, wiping away the blood coming out of his broken nose. "I suppose I did underestimate you, little bro. It looks like the budy-budy advantage won't work on you like I thought it would. But that's only one advantage I have." He ripped away the black cloak to reveal his armor. I was a sickly white, with what looked like mildew in parts of its cracked surface. "You and I know who was always the better Templar. Hell, the only reason you made First Order is because I 'died', isn't that right?"

Gil's eye twitched. "That's true, they didn't give me a trial to test my strength." Drawing his blade up, he gave it a whirl before stopping it upright, the edge next to his right eye. "This will be my test. If I win here, I won't be walking in your shadow anymore."

"That's the spirit! Now you're getting serious!" Flexing his shoulders, Xander called forth his wings. Gil wanted to turn away, but did not allow himself. The few feathers that were left were yellow or a purplish color, and the skin below was an angry red with several spots that looked like bruises. There were even patches of flesh missing where Gil could see bone. "Aww, don't look at me like that, little bro. I can't have you feeling sorry for me. Where's the Killer who blew the head off that statue all those years ago?"

"He's right here, Xander!" He managed to keep his voice from cracking as he yelled. "Now come and get him!" His friend, former friend, leaped forward with a smile, and Gil darted forward to meet him. Even as he bellowed at his enemy, he couldn't stop the tears from trickling down his cheeks.

"Ma'am, I'm getting readings from all around Nekomi," Ere spoke up.

Peorth floated down from the elevated console, giving a quiet sigh. It was the only sign she had given of her sense of loss. Keiichi is…he might be gone. If we don't win this war, though, Keiichi won't be the only one to… She shoved the thought aside. "Then I guess it's too late to try to warn them." Ceres nodded as she landed, but otherwise reacted very little. She moved in close to the Goddess in charge. "Are you okay?" It was hardly a whisper, but Ceres acted almost like she was yelling.

"I'm fine," she finally replied tightly. She didn't seem fine at all. Peorth put a gentle hand on the other woman's shoulder.

"You know, Ceres, when this is all over, we're going to have so much fun." The other Goddess looked at her like she was crazy, but she went on. "We're going to go out every night for a month! We're going to drink and carouse, and you're going to have a different God on your arm every night, starting with Keos."

They laughed quietly. Peorth hardly felt better, but some of the nervous energy seemed to bleed off Ceres, and she reached over to grasp Peorth's hand. "Thank you. I'm fine now. Really." Her smile was weak but sincere.

"Massive reading in the Haguruma!" Chrono called out. "Gil's fighting whoever is down there!"

We can't afford to loose Gilgamesh, certainly not after all this! "I'm going down there," Peorth told them, "he might need help." She expected resistance, but Ceres only nodded.

"Be very careful, Peorth," she whispered, "We can't loose him now."

Peorth allowed a smirk as she realized how alike she and Ceres seemed to think sometimes, but as she turned away the grin vanished. "Where's Belldandy?"

Turning around, Ceres wore the same look of confusion that Peorth did. "She was just here!" Shaking her head she stood and touched the dark haired Goddess on the arm. "You go help Gilgamesh. I'll try to find Belldandy with Yggdrasil if I can."

The Goddess of Roses nodded quickly and darted from the room. As she left, she heard Chrono say that the unauthorized gate was now open. Well, that wasn't her problem right now. She raced down the corridors as fast as she could fly, hoping that she could be in time to help Gilgamesh, and also hoping that Belldandy would be safe.

He rammed the fleshy, bloated creature at full speed, driving the knife in so far that his hand was inside. It writhed and howled as he drove the steel home again and again. Its tentacles wrapped around his left arm and his torso, but it couldn't pull him away. Oily blood spattered him, and his left eye stung as he squeezed it tightly shut against the black blood trying to get in.

"Morisato, it's dead."

Taff's groaning voice stopped him from stabbing into it again. It had indeed stopped moving. Grimly, he climbed off of the corpse, trying to wipe the sticky blood from his mouth. He had only managed to smear it a little before he made it over to where the Gunnery Sergeant lay sprawled on the dead grass. Taff was swallowing something as he approached, and what looked like a first aid kit was spilled out on the ground next to him.

"Never thought I'd be willing to kill to get my hands on some friggin Motrin," he grimaced. "It's too bad they don't put morphine in the first aid kits anymore."

"You alright?" Keiichi asked between breaths.

The Marine shook his head. "Leg's broke. Broke pretty bad, too." They both looked around as they heard more guttural howls in the distance. "You better get out of here. Hurry, git!" He pushed the Japanese man, but it barely felt more than a nudge.

"I'm not going without you," he stated firmly, trying to think of how they would both get out alive.

"You can't carry me, Morisato," he snapped. "You're just going to get us both killed."

Keiichi was looking around for an answer when he found it. "Up there!" He pointed through the opening in the trees the clearing provided. It looked like there was a good sized hill just ahead, and on top of that hill was some sort of building. "If we can make it to that, we can hide out for a while."

"I'm not going to tell you again, boy! Get out of here while you can!"

He yelled back at the Marine just as vehemently. "And I'm not going to tell you again, I'm not leaving you here!"

"My leg is broke, you idiot! I can't go running around with you!" Taff tried to push him away again, but Keiichi ignored it. He pulled Taff by the arm, sitting him up and eliciting a yell of pain.

"Tough it out, Marine," Keiichi ordered. "And stop making so much noise or they'll hear us."

Taff hissed a curse and tried to put his good leg under him as he was pulled up. Keiichi put the man's arm over his shoulder and they began their slow march toward the building on the hill. "God damn, Morisato," he said in a tight voice, "you smell like ass."

Keiichi almost laughed. The viscous blood he was covered in was where the foul stench came from, but he only shook his head a little, jostling his helmet again. "Thanks."

Black smoke was rising nearby, and he could even see some of the highest flames as they consumed trees on the other side of the school building. There was a lot of crying, and it was difficult for Grewana to herd all the children away from the fighting. He was trying to help, but even the boys were sniffling.

Dyson had never been so scared in his whole life. The young boy had only minutes ago been setting fires with his friends (to practice with the powers Gilgamesh had taught them). Grewana, the Second Class Goddess watching over his class of youths, was in the process of scolding them when it all started. The explosions and fires, the lightning strikes and the yells. Even now Dyson could hear the evil howls of the unseen enemies, getting closer every moment.

He was at the front of the group while Grewana was at the rear, alternating between looking over her shoulder worriedly and ushering the children onward. They were trying to get to Yggdrasil, she said they would be safe there, but looking at the tower now, it seemed so far away. He wondered if they could make it.

One of the girls screamed, and it was only a fraction of a second before it spread to nearly everyone in the group had joined her. Even Dyson was letting out a yell at the ghastly thing that had appeared out of the trees behind them. The thing was a monster that looked like it was made out of a bunch of rotted fish melted together. If Dyson had ever imagined a giant zombie with tentacles instead of a right arm, this would have been it.

It made a hissing sort of noise as it reacted to their screams, and he could just barely hear Grewana yell at them to run. Dyson was as frozen as everyone else until the monster began to step toward them. Finally registering what their Goddess protector had told them, he began to grab his classmates by the arms and pushing them in the direction of Yggdrasil. It's not what big brother Gil would do, but I have to do something!

Grewana dashed forward, hurling fire at the creature as she whipped up the wind to fan those flames. The creature screamed as the fire became a tornado around it. Dyson actually grinned a little. She could beat it, and they would keep going to Yggdrasil. They would be alright.

He was near the back of the group now, pushing the last stragglers past him as he became the closest to their teacher. "Lady Grewana! C'mon! We can't make it without you!"

The others were in the trees now, leaving only Dyson, the Goddess and the monster in the school yard. She was still holding her program on the screaming monster, not reacting to his calls at all. He stepped closer, yelling this time. "The class is in the trees! We need you to protect us!"

"Alright," she spoke in a strained voice, "alright! This should hold it for a while. Let's get going." The Goddess lowered her hands and began running toward him. She didn't see the tentacle lash out of the flames. Dyson fell back on the grass as he yelped in surprise, but Grewana could make no such noise. The tentacle was wrapped tightly around her neck, raising her till her toes were struggling to reach the ground.

He floated up, frantically grabbing at the fleshy tentacle, tears running down his cheeks as he tried not to sob. "Hold on, Grewana, just hold on! I'll help you!" Tears were running down her cheeks as well, and he could hear her terrified gasps as she tried to breathe. Abruptly he felt the muscles in the tentacle tighten, and he heard a sickening crack. Grewana's eyes bulged for an instant, and the look of fear began to relax from her face. Dyson shook his head, renewing his effort to free her. "No, no, no, no! Just wait, I'll help you! Please, you have to hold on! You have to…" The wind was knocked out of him as another tentacle flew out of the dying flames and knocked him away.

The child God blinked the tears away as he rolled over. Looking up again, the creature was struggling, staggering where it stood even though the fire was gone. It carelessly flung Grewana's limp body to the side where it disappeared into the trees. Dyson was thankful that it was well away from the place where his classmates had gone into the woods. Blinking away more tears, he realized that it was a strange thing to be thankful for, but he was still glad the others hadn't seen her like that.

"Dyson, c'mon!" Several hands were grabbing him by the arms, and he looked up in surprise to see several of the other boys standing there on the green with him. "C'mon we have to get out of here! Where's Lady Grewana?"

It was hard not to cry as he spoke. "She's gone." He saw them open their mouths and he yelled before they could utter another word. "She's gone! We're on our own, okay?" He could see the girls and most of the boys at the edge of the trees, staring wide eyed at the creature.

They stared at him for a second, some going to tears again. "You…you mean she's de-?"

"She's gone," he interrupted, scrubbing his eyes with his robes. When he looked up again, he only had eyes for the bloated monster that still staggered several meters away. It's hurt pretty bad. "You guys take the rest and get them to Yggdrasil. It's like big brother Gil said. It's down to us to protect them now. We can't fail big brother. Now go!"

"Wait," someone called as he stepped forward, "where are you going?"

"I'm settling the score!" Stopping a ways away from the monster, far enough that he felt it couldn't hit him with its tentacles, he began to gather his energy. He suddenly noticed four of his friends around him. "What are you doing? Get out of here!"

"You think you're the only one who want's to get back for Lady Grewana?"

Another wiped his nose as he nodded. "Besides, big brother said we have to attack all at once!"

Dyson looked at each of them quickly as they each waited for him. "Alright then, let's get him!" He directed them to spread out a bit. Two of them stood on the ground, two more were in the air, above and slightly further apart than the first two. Dyson himself was centered on top. He had seen this sort of thing in an adventure book somewhere, like the five points of a star design. It seemed as good a formation as any.

The monster acted as if it were blinded by the Goddess' fire attack, but it seemed to hear them as it swung its tentacles at them, not missing by much. It stepped toward them, though. If it swung again, someone would take the shot.

"Just like big brother Gil showed us!" Dyson spoke just loud enough for them to hear, hoping not to draw the creature's attention. Besides, they were set now. Who ever heard of the heroes running once they were ready to attack?

They began to channel their energies, and Dyson thought of heat as he moved his hands in a simple pattern in front of him. Gil had told them it was a program he had learned as a child, something he knew long before he should have. He even said it had gotten him into trouble, damaging a statue or something. Well, it's the only attack program we know, so it'll have to work.

"Spirits of fire, lend me your energies," he chanted, hearing the other boys speaking the same words. "Let me wield you against my enemies!" He strained, scraping every ounce of energy he could find within himself. Let this be enough! "Firebolt!"

As they spoke the activation word, their programs went crazy. Usually the fire just came out of their outstretched hands, but this time glowing blue mandalas, almost half a meter across, appeared in front of each of their hands. Before he could blink it became even more bizarre as arcs of blue energy connected the five mandalas in a large circle.

The boys were jerking away, trying to retreat from this surprising event, as the lines within the circle seemed to arrange themselves into advanced runes that were far beyond his level. He would dare to guess they wouldn't have been easy even for a licensed Celestial. In the midst of it all, a new mandala appeared to take up the space inside the new, larger circle. It utterly confused Dyson's eye in the instant he saw it. An instant was all he had before the program activated.

A ball of fire, at least ten times the size of any they had ever created before, shot out from the mad program they had somehow managed to create. It went slightly high and to the left, and if the creature had been another meter away, the projectile would have missed completely. It did hit, however, and hit hard. The bolt of fire struck the creature's right shoulder, exploding loudly and lifting the creature from its feet. Dyson looked on in surprise as the monster spun in the air and landed ten meters from its tentacle ended arm. The creature didn't move again.

"We…we did it," one of the boys said.

"Yeah," Dyson said sarcastically, "We messed up a simple program and got lucky that it still worked enough to kill that thing."

"But even if it worked different, it was better than usual," the red nosed one added. "That's never happened before."

Dyson shrugged, looking back at the monster. "I guess that's true. Maybe it was cause we were in a cool formation?" He managed what sounded like an amused huff, but he still wanted to cry. He thought about Grewana, and rubbed at his eyes again. He didn't know if he would be able to act tough the whole way to Yggdrasil. The boys were looking at him, and was trying to think of something to say when something caught his eye.

There was a Goddess across the open green, moving back toward the school. She had light blonde hair in a long pony tail, and her white robes were trimmed with blue and tiny lines of gold. He couldn't see her face, but it looked as though she was looking at the ground as she walked. He started to trot over to her. Maybe she can help us? Please let her be able to help us! "Hey! Miss Goddess?" She didn't seem to notice him. Nor did she notice the new creature that appeared from the trees behind her, heading straight for her. He broke into a run. "Behind you! Look out!" He could hear the others behind him as they let out alarmed yells. He tried to gather more energy as he ran. I hope I have enough for another shot! "Miss Goddess, it's right behind you! Turn around!"

As if she had finally noticed his words, she slowly turned as the creature bore down on her. He saw that she was very beautiful, but her eyes were as dull as any Dyson had ever seen, and he thought suddenly that he was looking at the saddest person in the universe. I can't make it in time! I can't get close enough to hit it! "Miss Goddess, run! Get away!"

She didn't take a step though. Her slow, steady turn continued through. The thing came into her line of sight as it raised its giant claw to strike and Dyson knew there was nothing he could do. But then something happened. Her eyes changed as he watched, and suddenly he felt like he was looking into the frozen depths of the sea. The dark blue was like the darkest ocean frozen solid. Dyson felt a wave of fear wash over him, and he tried to stop in place.

The Goddess' mouth moved in a blur and, to his ears, a thousand overlapping words left her lips in an instant. A gale suddenly buffeted Dyson, and he saw the monster's body divide into a dozen different pieces and more. Unable to believe what he was seeing, he blinked, and the remains of the creature came further apart and were blown away.

Dyson skidded to a halt and fell to his rump.

She had simply disintegrated it in less than a second. She only looked at it, and it was gone. Gulping down his nervousness, he got to his feet again and approached the Goddess.

There was a strange look on her face. It looked like anger to Dyson, but it also seemed regretful. Suddenly it was gone, and her eyes dulled again. She seemed so sad that she might never smile again. He was about to ask if he could help her when she muttered something. "Keiichi," she whispered, turning away from him. "I have to find Keiichi."

He watched her begin to walk the way she had been before. He still wasn't sure that the sad woman had seen him, but it didn't matter. He had made up his mind.

"Dyson? Did she say anything?" His friends had caught up with him again and were looking at him expectantly.

He looked at them for a moment before his eyes returned to the retreating back of the Goddess. "Get everyone moving. We're going to follow her."

"But she's going away from Yggdrasil!" someone said.

"Did you guys not see what she just did?" He turned and began waving the other children over. "There's no telling how many more of those things there are between us and Yggdrasil tower. At least with her, we'll be safe. Now come on!" He waved the others over again and started to trot off after the strange Goddess.

He caught up to her as they passed the school building, and as he looked over his shoulder, he was pleased to see everyone had indeed followed. Most were sniffling or outright crying, but they were all together. Putting himself behind her and to her right, he kept on following the Goddess quietly. She didn't appear to notice him or any of the others, though he did hear her faintly say something about finding 'Keiichi' every once in a while.

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A/N:

Wow, I can't believe I wrote that. As you might have noticed, this chapter was about twice as long as my previous longest chapters. I don't know if the next chapter will be quite as big, but I expect it to be longer than usual as well.

Well, this is the first part of the end of Arc II, and I'm sure some of you are wondering if I lost my mind with all the crazy stuff that happened. I can only assure you that every event in this chapter had specific causes, even if not all those causes are apparent yet. I also want to point out that the violence in this chapter is not there for the sake of violence. It's actually toned down in some places.

Anyway, this is a pivotal time in the war. A turning point of sorts. Of course, which way we turn has yet to be seen. I don't think I need to say things look extraordinarily bad for the good guys. While I hate cliff hangers as much as any of you, I hope that I managed to pack some suspense in there.

Just as much is going to happen in the next chapter, and I may have a Arc II Epilogue chapter as well. Anyway, chances are that the Arc will end in the next chapter, and we'll be moving on to the third and final arc of the story.

BTW, this chapter has moved us far beyond my old work. In fact, so little of this chapter is from the last chapter of the old version, that this may as well be a completely new chapter. If that's not good enough, then all the rest of the chapters I put out will be completely and totally new. Any of you who read this chapter years ago when I first posted it will be in totally new territory.

Also, in case anyone cares, there was a part where one of the Marines says "I'm not a weather guesser." 'Weather Guesser' is an affectionate term we use to refer to the military meteorologists. At least, it was in the places I was at.

Now to my reviewers…

Jimmeh: 3 reads? You're gonna make me blush! But seriously, thanks for taking such an interest. And as an added bonus, the double long chapter came out in only a week! That's like a chapter every three and a half days!

NavyPolice83: Glad to prove you wrong in that case. Thanks again for sticking around. Hope you like the chap.

And to all of you who have ever reviewed Zankoku: I know I've said thank you every chapter, but I really do mean it. Finishing this story is really important to me and you guys have given me the stamina to write most of this. I wouldn't have made it half this far without you. So really, honest to God, thank you guys.

Well, that's it. I'm going to play Lost Planet for a while and get to work on the Arc II finale tomorrow. If there are any major flaws in this chapter, please let me know. It was a hard self-proofread.

Thanks for reading, and see you next chapter!

Katamari Damacy