Disclaimer: Ah! My Goddess and all its associated characters are owned by their creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2007 ) Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
My personal gratitude goes to Mr. Kosuki Fujishima for creating the wonderful Manga, characters, settings, and plots that this fiction is based on.
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This is the second book to the story "Stolen Innocence", a continuation of the plot from that story. It is not necessary to read "Stolen Innocence", since this story has been written as a stand alone fiction, however, I recommend that you do read "Stolen Innocence" for historical information.
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Please be aware that I really don't have any hard knowledge on the Valkyries in the Ah My Goddess universe, so some things may be out of character.
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It was another pleasant day in Heaven. The sun was shining, warming the air to a perfect 75 degrees. The camera zooms in closer to a woman running from one building to another, as it approaches, we see that she is about five foot, seven inches tall, has brilliant cherry red hair that falls down just below her shoulders. Her eyes are the color pink, and she wears a uniform consisting of a light red two piece blouse and skirt combination, with the skirt being just a little open to allow for ease of movement. She bears the symbol of a horizontal blue oval on her forehead and cheeks.
Reaching her destination, she swings open the entrance door, and runs past a column of desks, each with a phone and a small stack of paperwork to the side. Continuing down the hall, she runs to the end and turns abruptly to the right, swinging Rind's door wide open. Panting out of breath she enters the office.
"What is it now, Mist?" Rind inquires, not looking up from her desk. Her long silver-blue hair runs down her back, and is neatly combed.
"You have to see this." Mist walks up confidently to Rind's desk.
"See what?" Rind sighs in irritation.
Mist puts the report down in front of Rind, covering the report she was already reading. Rind picks up the stapled report and scans it, quickly flipping through the documentation.
"Okay, so why is this my concern?" Rind asks.
"I— The--- The report pretty much says it, doesn't it?" Mist answers back dumbfounded.
"Yeah, she hacked up a few humans, and how a recall notice is going to be sent for her to answer for her actions." Rind paused, and looked up at Mist finally. "Probably sometime today I'd imagine."
Mist's jaw just about dropped as she heard the news. She knew probably better than anybody else what a trial of this magnitude would mean. Quickly she blurted out, "I want to train her."
"You want to what?" Rind asked surprised.
"She has great potential." Mist answered back.
Rind flopped down the report onto her desk and exhaled. "She's young."
"She's trainable." Mist countered.
"She's undisciplined." Rind said.
"She's ruthless." Mist again countered.
"She lacks control." Rind said in an irritated tone.
Mist paused for a moment, trying to come up with a defense. Finally she thought of something. "True, she does lack control, right now. But you also have to realize how powerful she will become once she does learn control. It would be such a shame for all that … energy… to be wasted on a mundane job like System Debugger."
Rind sat back in her high backed chair and closed her eyes, giving another long sigh. After a moment of thinking she finally opened her eyes, and stared directly at Mist.
"Fine. You can personally train her. It will be your full responsibility to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone or herself during her training….and it will be an accelerated training program. You will report her progress after every day directly to me, and you will conduct her training in secret. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Rind, fully." Mist said bowing before Rind. "But what about her trial?" she asked still bowing.
"I'll take care of that. You go meet her when the recall is sent. Now go." Rind said commandingly.
Mist walked out the door, shutting it silently. She practically skipped down the long hallway until she reached the front door. Upon exiting she slowed to a calm and casual walk, heading for Yggdrasil.
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Belldandy walked outside to feel the warm sunny spring day surround her as she hung the laundry to dry. The lands around the temple were still scarred by bullet holes, clumps of grass overturned, a large mud puddle where Mira was defeated, and several trees that had bullets lodged into their trunks. She glanced over to where the alter burned last night, seeing all that was left were some ambers still glowing a dull orange color with a little smoke rising from the site. Near the pile of white ashes laid the double bladed sword on the ground. Curious, Belldandy walked up to it and picked the sword up. It was a shiny silver metallic color, with a silver and gold hilt in the center of the two blades, which had a ripple on one side of the blade, and a straight edge going down the assumed bottom. The ends were curved upwards like that of a Katana. The blades were razor sharp, and appeared to have not have a chip, bloodstain, or any other defect in the blades. The sword itself weighed a surprising light weight, if she had to guess, she'd say it weighted about two pounds, which seems odd for a seven foot sword.
She gently carried it inside and carefully placed it on the kitchen counter, starring at it until Urd woke up. She came striding slowly in the room and was about to sit down on the couch and turn on the television when Belldandy called her over.
"What's up, sis?" Urd dully asked.
"I've never seen a weapon like this before. Where do you think she found it?" Belldandy asked still looking at her reflection in the blades.
"Maybe she found it on one of those men?" Urd suggested.
"No, this defiantly isn't human made." Belldandy responded.
During their conversation, Skuld came stumbling into the kitchen, her bloodshot eyes still only half open. She wore the same pink silk nightgown she slept in the night before last, which consisted of two thin shoulder straps, and loosely hung down to her mid thighs, with just a slight tuck to accentuate her waistline.
"Good morning, Skuld." Belldandy said cheerfully. "How are you?" she asked.
Skuld looked at Belldandy and gave a wide long yawn before answering. "I didn't really sleep at all last night." She replied.
"I'm sorry to hear that Skuld. Maybe some soup would help?" Belldandy suggested.
"I could easily whip up a sleeping potion for you." Urd added.
"Um… I think I'll—" Skuld began to respond, seeing the sword on the countertop.
Slowly she walked over to it and gazed down at it, seeing her tired reflection in the silver blade. Giving a slight sigh, she began to tear up, with a single tear rolling down her right cheek. Belldandy quickly went over to Skuld and put her hand on her shoulder.
"You can cry if you need to Skuld. It's perfectly normal to mourn somebody that was close to you." She whispered.
"I'm okay." Skuld stated fighting back her tears, giving her eyes a quick wipe with her forearm.
The telephone rang.
"I'll get it." Urd said, since she was the closest one to it. Picking up the receiver she answered.
"Morrisato Res—" she paused. "Yes…..Yes……today?...right now?... But……I understand." Urd hung up the phone and turned toward her two sisters.
"Skuld, you've been recalled to Heaven, effective immediately." Urd said with a twinge of sadness.
"Why?" She asked.
"You're going to be tried for the slaying of three humans, and answer for your behavior." Urd said softly.
Belldandy took Skuld by her arm and quickly chanted something under her breath. A moment later a white glow moved from Belldandy to Skuld, which lasted for a minute, pulsing as it moved between the two sisters. After she was finished, Belldandy collapsed to the floor.
"Big Sis?!" Skuld exclaimed.
"Don't worry about her. She just gave you an energy boost. You're going to need it." Urd commented.
"Why?" Skuld asked naively.
"Because a trial of this magnitude usually doesn't end well for the one being interrogated." Urd responded.
Skuld looked uneasy at her eldest sister.
"You should probably get going. They don't look kindly on those who they have to wait for." She said as she bent down to tend to Belldandy.
"Yeah. I guess so." Skuld said with a tremble in her voice. She went back to her room, and dressed appropriately for Heaven, putting on her standard pink over shirt and skirt, complete with shoes and matching gloves. Then she went into the bath and jumped in the water. Moments later she arrived in Heaven, specifically Yggdrasil's control room.
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Skuld looked around, only seeing the normal goddesses working on various debugging chores.
"Skuld." A commanding voice called her name from one of the entrances to the control room.
Skuld quickly turned her head to see who had called her name, to see it was Mist, a member of the Special Duties division. Skuld knew that she works directly under Rind, who was currently serving as Lead Valkyrie under The Almighty One's Special Combat Division.
"Uh oh…" Skuld whispered to herself. Glancing down to the floor, in shame, she slowly walked over to Mist, full of anticipation and worry.
"Skuld, please come with me….and try to keep up, will you?" Mist commanded.
"Yes, Ma'am" Skuld responded.
The two goddesses walked, and continued to walk, right past the office of Special Duties. Mist lead the way to a little building far away from most of the other buildings in Heaven. The place looked abandoned from the outside. Skuld had heard stories of little goddesses that were punished for crimes they had committed—that they were sent to this building to await their trials. Of course, she heard this when she was a little girl herself, probably not much older than a five year old (in human terms).
Mist opened the door, and commanded Skuld to enter. After she had done so, she closed and locked the door behind her, removing the key from the lock. In one swift motion, she flipped on the lights, a brilliant white light flooded the entire room. In the center of the room were two chairs, facing one another, separated by a small round table.
Mist pointed over to the chairs, commanding, "Have a seat over there."
Skuld walked over to the chair and gently pulled it away from the table. Slowly sitting down, she tensed up, her feet flat on the floor, her legs sealed shut, her shoulders and back were rigid, and she had genuine fear in her brown eyes. She placed her left hand over her right hand, and rested them in her lap, however, she was unintentionally crushing her right hand from squeezing her left had in fear.
"Do you know why you're here?" Mist asked sternly.
"Yes. For the slaying of three human mortals with out a license." Skuld replied softly.
"And you understand the consequences of your actions, if found guilty by a panel of your peers?" Mist asked.
"Yes. I think so." Skuld answered.
"Very well. Then let us start." Mist said bluntly.
"Okay." Skuld replied again just as softly.
Mist opened up a folder and pulled out a report and quickly closed the folder. Laying the report on top of the closed folder, she scanned the text.
"My, my… you've been a busy little girl haven't you?" Mist said, not looking up to Skuld.
"Um…I guess you could say that." Skuld answered softly, resisting the urge to yell or even glare at her for calling her a little girl.
"You are 14, yes?"
"Yes."
"And your currently assigned duty is Primary System Debugger for Yggdrasil?"
"Yes."
"You currently hold a Second Class, First Category, Limited license, correct?"
"Yes."
"Your element is Water, yes?"
"Yes Ma'am."
Mist sighed as she looked up directly into Skuld's terrified brown eyes. "You are still so young, and show much potential. If you were to learn from this mistake, you might be—"
"Please, Madam Mist. I'll do anything, anything at all, you just name it, please! I'll scrub the floors of Hell if I have to!" Skuld begged.
"I'll take that into consideration…..as long as you do one thing." Mist replied.
"Yes?" Skuld answered eagerly.
"Never interrupt me again!" Mist shouted at Skuld.
"I'm sorry." Skuld almost whispered, glancing down at the floor.
"According to the Inter-Dimensional Handbook for Goddesses and Demons, Chapter 821, Section 49, Subparagraph E, the consequences for an unauthorized killing of one mortal is revocation of preexisting license." She paused.
"Since you have killed three mortals out of cold blood, the punishment is far worse. You would not only be stripped of your operating license, possibly never regaining it back, but you would also loose any Earth traveling privileges. Along with that, there is a minimum sentence to at least one millennium of House Arrest."
Skuld began to tear up, realizing that she wouldn't be able to see her Big Sis for a very, very long time, and she'd only be allowed to stare at her walls in her assigned apartment, spending that time all alone, by herself. Tears began to stream down the young girl's face. Try as she might, she couldn't hold them back. A large lump formed in the back of her throat as she tried to restrain her emotions.
"But I have some good news." Mist said surprisingly.
"Y—yes? Skuld choked out as her voice cracked.
"Since you stated that you would be willing to do anything….", Mist trailed off.
Skuld frantically shook her head up and down in desperation.
"I have a request for you." Mist continued.
"Any—thing." Skuld chocked out again.
"Would you be willing to train under my personal command as a Valkyrie?" Mist asked with a small grin.
"Val…krie?" Skuld asked in disbelief.
"Would you or would you not." Mist insisted.
Skuld sat there motionless for what seemed to be an eternity. Thinking about the ruthless training the Valkyries have to go through, she would be away from her sisters for a while, unable to contact them while in training. She also thought about the fact that most Valkyries become hardened and rigid, never expressing any emotion, never forming relationships, and most certainly, never falling in love.
"Love. There was only one person she loved, and he was dead. Though she only really knew him for a few days in reality, those few past days were the most wonderful days of her life, despite the horrifying events that took place that led them to one another. A single tear rolled down her cheek, as she made the decision. She would never love again.
"Yes….. I will." Skuld answered finally, looking straight into Mist's eyes.
"Okay." She replied cheerfully, which took Skuld by surprise. "I'll have Rind accept your proposal to join under my leadership, and she will suspend your trial. If you graduate, and I mean graduate with all Level One scores, your trial will be canceled. However, if you fail, then you will immediately go to trial, and punished accordingly."
Skuld swallowed hard, nodding her head in recognition of the contract.
"Good. Then the first thing we shall work on is Weapon Retrieval." Mist explained. She stood up, and prompted Skuld to stand up as well. After she did, the table and chairs vanished, leaving the two goddesses facing one another, alone in the room.
"But I don't have any weapons." Skuld proclaimed.
"Yes you do. As of yesterday on Earth, you declared your weapon of choice." Mist responded.
"Huh?" Skuld looked dumbfounded at Mist.
"That sword with a blade coming out of both sides of the hilt?" Mist pointed out.
"Oh. That's my weapon? Why a sword?" Skuld asked question after question.
"You made a sword because that's what you wanted. Your sword was made from your heart's essence, and therefore is a part of you, making it yours, forever, or at least until you die." She paused. "You must respect and honor your weapon, as if it were part of you. Discarding it as you did yesterday was … not good. For your sake, I hope your sword forgives you."
"Oh." Skuld acknowledged.
"One more thing about your sword. It will respond to your commands and your commands only. Since you two are connected, you should name your sword, 'Skuld-chan'. Before you ask, I'll answer the question that's burning in the front of your brain. 'Why –chan?' The reason you name your weapon after yourself, with the honorary suffix of –chan is because your weapon is an intimate part of you, in essence, it is your very soul. That is why you must treat your sword with honor, love, compassion, but most of all, respect." Mist finished.
"Now, call upon your weapon!" Mist commanded.
"Um…..I don't know how?" Skuld sheepishly responded.
"Have you not heard a single word I have just said?!" Mist glared down at Skuld.
"Yes….I heard every word, but – "
"Then call …. Your……sword!" Mist commanded again, putting special emphasis on the word 'call'. here?" Skuld said uncomfortably.
"No…no, no, no, nononono! Like this! Mist-chan I command you to come to thee and once again bind yourself to my flesh!", Mist shouted with a dignified commanding voice that echoed throughout the room.
A moment later, steel plated whip fizzled into her right hand.
"Now…call upon your sword….before I decimate you!" Mist commanded, yelling at Skuld.
"Okay…" Skuld paused taking a deep breath in and slowly letting it out. Mist started to become irritated at Skuld and flung her whip in front of the girl dressed in pink.
"Skuld-chan……I command you to return to my hands!" Skuld yelled. Moments later the double bladed sword appeared in her hands, turning a shade of yellow and blue.
"What are you afraid of…kid!" Mist antagonized while launching her whip right at Skuld. Skuld in return held up her sword instinctively to block Mist's attack, causing the whip to wrap around Skuld's upper blade.
"Huh?!" Skuld asked.
"Now, disarm me…if you can!" Mist commanded.
Skuld pulled on her sword, not budging as Mist was also pulling on her whip, dragging Skuld across the floor on her feet. She gave her whip another forceful pull, and launched Skuld into the air, as she went flying, slamming against the far wall and landing hard on her butt.
"Oww!" Skuld glared up at Mist.
"Oh quit being a baby! Now get up and fight me!" Mist commanded.
"Gimme back my sword." Skuld said.
"No. Come and get it." Mist challenged.
Skuld stood up and charged Mist at a full run, only to be snared by Mist's whip tangling her feet. Skuld hit the floor face first, and ended right at Mist's boots.
"What are you going to do Skuld? Hmmm?" Mist taunted Skuld as she attempted to free herself.
"I think you're going to enjoy pleasuring me." Mist said as she bent down and began to undo Skuld's shirt.
"Hey! Stoppit" Skuld begged.
"Are you going to make me?" Mist challenged, continuing to undo Skuld's shirt. "Next I move to your bottoms, and then I'll have my way with you." Mist declared.
"No! I'm….not like….that!" Skuld squirmed further, unable to get untangled. "Please stop!" She begged.
"No. What if I were an enemy combatant? Hmmm, He certainly wouldn't stop. He wants your body. Now stop me!" Mist shouted at Skuld.
"I….don't know…how!" Skuld pleaded, almost crying.
Mist sighed, "I guess I'll be enjoying you serving as my slave today." She continued as she flipped open Skuld's pink shirt, revealing her A cup bra. "I just taught you how to escape, but you refuse to call upon it." Mist whispered seductively into Skuld's ear.
"Huh?" Skuld asked herself. She saw her sword laying on the floor across the room from her. "Skuld-chan, I beg of you---- return to me….save me!" she pleaded.
A moment later, her sword returned to her hands. Slashing randomly Mist backed off of Skuld, yanking her tangled whip, throwing Skuld across the room once more. In the process of being airborne her shirt came flying down to her hands, which had a death grip on the hilt of her sword. Slamming onto the floor with her bare back she moaned in pain. Mist stood over Skuld with a grin on her face.
"Now, shall I start raping you again, or are you going to put your shirt back on and fight me?" Mist taunted.
Skuld leapt up from the floor, coming down out of the air with her sword, she swing left and right, using it as a staff. Mist countered with her whip and a spell shield. Skuld continued to own Mist as she continued to force Mist backwards until her back was hard against a wall. Taking her sword back, she pointed it directly at Mist's chest and rammed it with all her force, only to be flung backwards about twenty feet from the shield protecting Mist.
"Excellent." Mist applauded, clapping her hands together slowly, she smiled as she approached Skuld. Skuld reacted by defensively placing her sword between her and Mist.. Instead Mist just held out her hand, offering Skuld to stand up.
"Come on. Take my hand." Mist said gently.
Skuld reached out and grabbed her hand; Mist yanked her up to her feet and bowed to her. A bed appeared in one corner of the room.
"That was very good, Skuld. Now I want you to rest up. Get plenty of sleep before tomorrow morning. You'll need it." Mist advised.
"But, it's only 10:30 in the morning!" Skuld whined.
"I know. I also know that you didn't sleep a wink last night…you were too busy being depressed to sleep." Mist said giving Skuld an eyeshot. "Trust me, you need all the sleep you can get. Now climb into that bed, pull the covers up and close your eyes." Mist commanded. "Oh, change into something more appropriate to sleep in. I'll see you first thing in the morning. Good night Skuld." Mist said shutting the door behind her.
"How does she expect me to change…I don't have any of my clothes here." Skuld said as she walked to the door. She tried to push open the door, but it was locked. She was trapped in this windowless room, for only God-knows how long.
Scanning the room, she spotted a small dresser with a couple of drawers next to the bed. She walked over to it and opened the drawers. Picking out her pink nightgown she quickly changed into it.
"Now how did these get here?" Skuld thought to herself as she climbed into bed, giving a long yawn. Mist was right, she did need sleep, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. Slowly she closed her eyes, and a moment later the lights faded to blackness as Skuld fell into a deep sleep.