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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The room was dark. The only sounds were two breathing bodies in a deep sleep over in a corner of the room on top of a padded bed. Skuld was curled up on her side with Dirk supporting her backside. He had his arm draped over her chest and under her arm, as she held the sheet tightly against her body with it tucked underneath her. But that all ended when Rind opened and slammed the door shut, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Get up!" she screamed, marching directly over towards the bed. She ripped the sheet off of the couple and grabbed Skuld's arm, dragging her out of Dirk's loose grip, forcing her to wake up on the cold concrete floor.
"Come on …. Move it, move it, move it!" Rind chanted, giving Skuld a light kick in her butt.
With Skuld finally being awake enough, she blushed and ran over to her closet, throwing on the first pink uniform she grabbed. It took her a record twenty seconds to get dressed.
Skuld, dear…please do something with that mop you call a hair do. You must present your best to be graded with perfection. Rind lectured.
Quickly running over to her closet again, she whipped out a brush and combed her hair pretty and straight, giving her bangs an extra lift for effect.
"Excellent. Follow me." Rind commanded.
Skuld hesitated and glanced back at Dirk who was just beginning to wake up.
"Come on. I'll have Mist fetch him in a while." Rind said in frustration.
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Skuld followed Rind to a light blue building with several windows wrapping around it. She recognized this place. It was the same place that Urd went to take her Licensing Exam. She contemplated in confusion why she was here first, instead of taking her Valkyrie test. Upon entering Rind stayed behind and instructed one of the staff that Skuld was to take her First Class examination immediately. Skuld glanced back for a moment receiving a dark stare, and then turned around to follow the staff worker.
He guided her to an empty room with a single desk and chair. There were no clocks, no decorations on the walls, just plain concrete brick painted over with a pleasant green tone. On the desk laid a closed test booklet and a pencil.
"Please have a seat, Skuld." The worker instructed her. After taking her seat, she rested her interlocked hands on top of the desk and patiently waited for her next instruction.
"You will have thirty minutes to complete the two-hundred question examination. Each missed question is worth five points. You must pass with at least a ninety percent to receive your license upgrade. You may begin as soon as I shut this door." He paused. "Do you have any questions?"
"Yes. May I use the rest room?" She asked.
"Yes you may. If you are not back within five minutes, consider this examination a failure. You may not apply to test again for ten cycles. (Roughly five-hundred Earth years.) Do you understand?"
"Yes. I will only be a moment. Where is it?" Skuld asked.
"Down the hall and the last door on the left." He replied.
Skuld got up out of her chair and walked out the door. Seeing that the hall way was quite a length, she sprinted towards the bathroom as fast as she could. It took her about a minute and a half to reach the door. Running in at top speed, she didn't bother to lock the door, she just found the first toilet and let her bladder go. After a quick sigh of relief, she threw her hands under the running water and ran back to the testing room, wiping her wet hands along her skirt as she ran. Luckily she still had about thirteen seconds left.
"Are you ready?" He asked again.
"Yes." She said. "Thank you." she tacked on at the end flashing a smile.
"Begin." He replied as he shut the door, pressing a button on a stopwatch around his neck.
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Dirk rushed out of the room, half dressed in a panic.
"Where did she go!? Where did she take her?" he almost screamed.
"Relax" Mist said standing propped up against a wall.
Dirk whipped around seeing Mist leaning against the wall next to the entrance door.
"She's just taking her test. Rind wanted me to let you know." Mist explained.
"Test? You mean she's battling for her life….and I'm not there!?" Dirk cried out.
"No, not that test, her First Class License exam." She paused. "Besides, you wouldn't be allowed in there with her anyway…not that she'd have time to notice you." Mist said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dirk inquired.
"It's quite simple. She's got half an hour to correctly answer two-hundred questions. She's only allowed to incorrectly answer four of those questions, and any questions she fails to answer at all are deducted at a single point each. Basically, she's racing the clock – she either knows the answers, or she doesn't." Mist explained.
"Oh…" Dirk replied as he walked back inside and threw a shirt on.
"I had to take the test three times myself before I passed." Mist admitted.
"Wow…it's that hard of an exam?" Dirk asked.
"I wouldn't call it difficult, per se. It's just very stressful. There's no clock in the room either, so you have no idea how much time you have left. It's very nerve racking." Mist said.
"Come on. I'll treat you to breakfast." Mist said pushing herself off the wall and leading the way towards the cafeteria.
"Skuld's a smart girl. I have every confidence in her that she'll pass." Dirk said with a smile.
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Belldandy quietly knocked on Urd's closed door. "Urd?"
After hearing nothing she opened the door, walked over to Urd's bedside and knelt down. "Urd?" She said again gently shaking her older sister awake.
"What….." Urd moaned slowly.
"Urd, I need to talk to you." Belldandy pleaded quietly.
"What's …wrong …now?" Urd asked.
"Something is terribly wrong. Come with me." She said, leading a half asleep Urd to the bathroom.
"Okay, what's the problem?" Urd asked.
Belldandy teleport through the mirror. A few seconds later, she reappeared on the floor as her teleportation was bounced back.
"That's what's wrong. I can't enter Heaven. Something is terribly wrong." Belldandy insisted.
"Let me guess. You want me to try to get into Heaven, use my Administration access to find out what's going on?" Urd guessed.
"Would you?" Belldandy asked with optimism.
Urd sighed and rolled up her sleeves. Something told her that she was going to regret this trip. She marched over towards the television and flipped it on. Reaching nothing but static she tilted her head with confusion.
"Is there something wrong with the T.V.?" Belldandy asked.
"I don't think so. We're probably just not getting a signal." She stepped through the screen, and was pulled into the television unit. Belldandy watched in horror as she saw Urd being pulled into an infinite set of televisions screens, each one approaching the screen that Belldandy was watching until it expanded past the screen size, revealing the next loop.
"What the hell?!" Urd's voice buzzed through the speaker.
"Um Belldandy?" Keiichi asked, stepping into the living room.
"Yes, Mr. Keiichi?" Belldandy answered without a hint of concern.
"Is this normal?" He pointed to his room.
Belldandy followed Keiichi to his room, to see white fluffy bug after bug hopping out through a hole in the wall. Belldandy yanked Keiichi away from the door and shut it quickly. Chanting a spell on the door, she surrounded his room with a protective barrier.
"I'm not really sure how long this is going to last. Something is really wrong…I know it now." Belldandy confirmed.
"I shouldn't be seeing those with my naked eyes….. Should I?" He asked rhetorically.
"No. You shouldn't." She answered.
"I fear that only Skuld is the one that can fix all of this. Urd and I are confined to Earth." Belldandy finally gave a hint of concern, mentioning her younger sister's name.
"I do hope everything turns out okay with her trial." She added as she walked into Skuld's room and picked up her debugging hammer, which was resting in the corner of her room.
"Do you have another one of those?" Keiichi asked.
"I don't know if she has any extra's here. Let's take a look, although, I really hate invading my sister's privacy. But if you can help, that would be wonderful, since I'm no where near as good as Skuld is at using this thing." Belldandy admitted.
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The door opened and the examiner snatched the test off of Skuld's desk. "Please report to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast. When you are finished, you are to report to the Valkyrie Testing Field."
Skuld got up from the desk and walked out of the room, down the hallway, and outside towards the cafeteria. After a few minutes of walking she entered, and ordered a huge pile of ice cream. Mist saw Skuld and flagged her down. Skuld sat down with relief at seeing Dirk sitting across the table from her.
"How do you think you did?" Dirk asked.
"I'm not sure." Skuld answered with hesitation. "I didn't finish."
"You'll find out by the end of the day. Now quickly eat up…. Is that all you're having for breakfast is … ice cream?" Mist asked.
"Yup!" Skuld answered cheerfully.
"That's not very healthy isn't it?" Mist asked rhetorically.
"For most people it's not, but for me, it's a secondary energy source. I've been feeling a bit run down lately, and this should just hit the spot." Skuld explained.
"Interesting." Mist said.
A couple of minutes later Skuld finished the entire tray of ice cream, while Mist watched in awe. Dirk just smiled.
"Okay, I'm ready!" Skuld said with a renewed enthusiasm.
"Alright, to the Combat Testing we go." Mist said standing up.
Mist opened the door and stepped out into the rain. "Rain?" Mist inquired to nobody.
"Oh no!" Skuld exclaimed with concern.
"What's wrong?" Dirk asked.
"Something's wrong with Yggdrasil. It's not supposed to rain in Heaven!" Skuld explained in a panic. "I have to go look at the System."
"No… you can't, Skuld. You're still restricted until you complete your training…. and pass." Mist replied.
"Come on, then! Let's hurry!" Skuld said as she began to run towards the Combat field.
'Well, this will certainly be interesting.' Rind thought as she watched the pouring rain making a muddy mess of the testing field.
Mist ran ahead of Skuld to open the gates. Dirk chased behind both goddesses. 'Man, they're fast!' he thought to himself.
"Hurry, Dirk! I don't want you locked out!" Skuld yelled, stopping for a moment, allowing Dirk to catch up with her.
Once at the testing grounds, Mist began giving instructions. "Dirk, we need you to sit in this protective area. You can observe the entire combat from here."
"I'll be alone in here the whole time?" Dirk inquired.
"No. I will also be with you. These tests are performed by the Expert Combat Guardians. I don't have that high of a classification yet." Mist explained.
"Skuld, you may enter the field." Mist pointed over towards the middle of the field.
Skuld slowly walked over towards the middle of the muddy field. It was pouring down rain, and she could barely see the other side of the arena.
"At least it's still pleasantly warm." Skuld said to herself.
Dirk observed Skuld from the observation booth. She was soaked from head to toe. It was about ten minutes before the test actually began with a single combatant charging the field straight toward Skuld.
"Skuld!!" He yelled as he stood up, trying to warn her of the upcoming danger. It was obvious that she didn't see the Valkyrie charging at her.
"Relax, Dirk. This booth is sound proofed from the inside. We'll be able to hear everything that's going on outside, but nobody out there can hear us." Mist explained.
The Valkyrie took Skuld completely by surprise, knocking the five foot girl into the mud. His force dragged her several feet, leaving a ditch in front of Skuld.
Skuld quickly got up, moments later she called her sword. "Skuld-chan!" Her double bladed sword materialized into her hands, just in time for her to duck and slash towards her attacker. Both combatants missed each other, but Skuld didn't see the other three attackers sneak up behind her. She found out the hard way, by being beaten down to the ground with their staffs. The first attacker took advantage of the situation and charged the fallen girl, slashing at her back while she was down. A bloody tear formed where the blade barely touched her skin. Two others continued beating her with their staffs, taking turns. The third staff combatant joined the original Valkyrie. Together they both charged Skuld again. Skuld however saw their attack while being pummeled further down into the mud. She raised her sword just in time to slash both pairs of legs charging her. The two tripped over her blades, leaving a bloody trail on the ground as they flew through the air, taking out the other two attackers. Skuld quickly got up and charged all four enemies, slashing and piercing with rage.
She had successfully taking out one of the staff attackers. He laid dormant on the ground where he was, in a bath of red blood surrounding him. The other three once again lined themselves up and charged Skuld at full speed. Skuld quickly chanted, "I am the Goddess Skuld. I command the droplets of water before me to shield me from my attackers!"
The rain formed a very tall, think wall in between Skuld and the three Valkyries. They couldn't stop in time and slammed into the wall as if it were made out of bricks. Moments later the wall dropped and formed a sphere around her attackers.
"Impressive." Rind commented from the side lines.
The lead Valkyrie slashed his way through the water bubble and ran towards Skuld, but she blocked his slash with her sword. Taking her left foot, she swiped it hard on his calves, causing him to collapsed to the ground on his side. She took her blade and raised it up in the air, with it's twin facing downwards right above his chest. With all of her force she dropped her arms down into his body. Blood splashed and squirted all over, most of it ending up on Skuld''s chest.
The remaining two attackers charged Skuld while she was taking out the swordsman, clubbing her on both sides and then swinging their staffs as if they were baseball bats. Skuld fell down to the ground in agony. She put her hands up to cast another spell, but they too were beaten down. Her forearms ached with such pain, she couldn't grip her sword any longer. Softly she uttered the words, "Spirits of…. the water, I… beg of you….. to heed my…. request….. Burn these…. who would….. attack…..me ….defenselessly…… Cut….into….their…… hearts… ….and…. make….. them…. hurt… as…. I… ache…. For…I ….. am……. the ……. Goddess….. of…. ….. Destiny ….. …. …. My …. name …. is … …. …. Skuld….. …. …." As she uttered the spell, her voice became softer and softer until it could barely be heard as a whisper.
The mud around Skuld's body and the two attackers began to bubble and swirl, as the rain also began to swirl, like a violent tornado of water. Steam erupted from the ground underneath her attackers, while the rain formed a boiling cage of acid. Slowly it began shrinking, their staffs were useless against Skuld's defensive attack. With each inch lost, the two staffs dissolved into nothingness. Finally enclosing the two remaining Valkyrie to the point of non-movement, they collapsed to the ground in agony.
Skuld slowly stood up and bowed before the rain. She picked up her sword and readied herself for more combat.
"Is she seriously going to continue fighting?" Dirk asked.
"Yes." Mist paused, glancing out the window to see Skuld stumbling around on the field of mud. "She must fight one other."
"Who?" Dirk asked naively.
"Her." Mist pointed at Rind as she walked out to the center of the field. She carried an axe with her as she confidently approached the weary Skuld.
"You may quit now, and save your life" Rind paused and grinned devilishly. "Or you may fight me, and quite possibly die where you stand."
Skuld looked up at Rind. Her hair was dripping with water as she stared through her black strands of hair. She frowned with a look of anger and rage. "You can try." She confidently replied back.
"Have it your way then! Spearmint…Coolmint!" Rind called. Her two angels appeared behind her.
"What!! That's not fair!" Dirk screamed.
"In battle…. things are hardly …. fair." Mist calmly explained.
Rind lifted her axe into the air and came down striking hard on Skuld, slashing diagonally across her chest. Her red blood stained her wet, pink shirt as it gapped open. Skuld grasped her chest as she screamed in pain. Rind wound up and came down for a second attack. This time slashing her across her right thigh. Skuld collapsed to the ground, dropping her sword into the mud.
"Do you surrender to me?" Rind glared at Skuld.
"N—No." Skuld said, slowly standing up, shaking from weakness.
She threw an open hand punch towards Rind. Rind easily dodged the attack, grabbing her arm and yanking her close to her body, then twisting Skuld around and wrapping her arm around Skuld's neck tightly.
"It's futile, Skuld. You are defeated." Rind said, antagonizing her.
Skuld whispered as she gasped for air by Rind's death choke. "Spirits of the water. Make a void where I stand. Take me with my attacker into your. Allow us to drown in your fury and might. Bind us to your mercy, oh sprit of the Essence of Life. I plead that you will spare me, for I am your commander Skuld, Goddess of Destiny."
Dirk and Mist watched in horror from the observation room to see the rain melting the ground away from where Skuld and Rind where standing. Within seconds both goddesses where stuck in a rapidly filling hole of about thirty feet, their feet bound to the bottom with mud as hard as steel.
"What the hell!?!" Rind outburst with anger. Rind tried with all her might to break free of her bondage, however, she was stuck. Skuld just stood there as the water quickly overtook the top of her head. Rind finally let go of Skuld, who was now completely underwater in a mixture of red blood, black hair, and mud. Rind took her axe and began slashing at the walls of mud, only to be discouraged by her axe dulling with each blow.
Mist and Dirk ran out of the booth. "What did you do Rind?!" Mist cried out.
"I had nothing to do with this. Why would I allow myself to die…to defeat her?" Rind shot back. "Now help me out of here!"
Mist grabbed onto Rind's arm as her head was quickly submerging. She pulled with all her might. Dirk joined too, but both were unable to pull her free.
"Hey look!" Dirk announced, pointing to the floating black hair in the pond.
Dirk quickly jumped in and grabbed Skuld, who was free floating face down. He swam over to the edge and got her out of the water. Then he turned back and dove into the miniature lake, diving all the way to the bottom. He tugged and pulled with all of his might. He begged under the water to release Rind from captivity. When Dirk was out of air and began to surface, the mud broke free and Rind floated up to the top along with Dirk.
Rind got out of the water filled hole, and glanced over at Skuld, who was just lying still. Her clothes were torn to shreds thanks to her own attacks, her young blood soaked the ground where she was.
Dirk ran over to her and started performing C.P.R. on her once again. He tried for several minutes, but still nothing.
"Come on Skuld! WAKE UP!" He shouted at her with frustration.
"Are you done yet?" Rind asked dully.
"Look at what your test did to her!" Dirk screamed, standing up and getting right in Rind's face.
"Back off, mortal." Rind threatened.
"It wasn't the test…it was her….she decided how to react, and this is the path she chose." Mist calmly added.
Dirk sat Skuld's cool body on his lap and wrapped his arms around her chest. His eyes filled with tears of sorrow and sadness.
"Why? Why did you … " Dirk cried softly.
"She'll be fine." Rind grumbled.
"Huh? What do you mean… 'she'll be fine'?" Dirk barked back at Rind.
"This was only a test. The attacks were not deadly. She's just unconscious." Rind said, talking down towards Dirk.
"But…she's not breathing!" Dirk replied.
"Why don't you check again?" Mist suggested grinning slightly.
Slowly Skuld awoke and opened her eyes. She smiled at feeling Dirk's warmth behind her, despite the cold rain drops falling on her. A rumble of thunder was heard in the distance.
"Come on you two…get up, and follow me." Rind ordered.
Dirk helped Skuld up to her feet. She was very unsteady as she took a few steps. Rind was already outpacing them and quite a few feet ahead of them already. He gently scooped her up of off her feet, and cradled her in his arms. She latched her battered arms around his neck and blushed all the way to their destination.
"You are too kind to me." Skuld softly spoke.
"I would do anything….anything at all for you." He replied.
Skuld's smile turned into a look of fear.
"What's wrong?" Dirk asked.
"I failed, didn't I." She weakly responded.
"Actually, I really don't know." Mist butted in.
"I don't think there has ever been a 'draw' on the battle field." Mist added.
"So what does that mean for Skuld?" Dirk asked.
"I'm afraid that only Rind knows that answer." Mist replied.