JC: There's gonna be a battle here—a battle between Fllay and Cagalli! I must say that I enjoyed writing the fight scenes, though some were hard to describe. Oh well… I welcome you to the darkness.
Disclaimer: It's always the same thing here.
Gundam Seed: Mythical Legends
Phase 48: Niflheim
Darkness overwhelmed everything. A long and wide river stretched through the horizon, carrying with it the souls of those who have perished. The misty area had demented souls floating around. Dead and terrifying trees sway back and forth along the cold and icy wind. Beside the river, two strange lights flashed brightly. Then the lights disappeared, revealing two goddesses of different worlds.
Hel, otherwise known as Fllay Alster, was the goddess and ruler of the underworld. It was her task to guard Niflheim and guide the souls to their rightful place. She was also known as the Reaper who takes away your life when the time is right. As the only daughter of the trickster god Loki, she can be very protective of her father.
Known as Cagalli Yula Athha in the mortal realm, Freya was the goddess of fertility and beauty. She was the most elegant and purest goddess in Asgard. She possessed true kindness and a great strength in mind. She was well-respected by all gods, especially Odin. She was good friends with the Loki and Heimdall, and a good sister to her ever loving brother, Freyr.
They were glaring at each other. Each goddess had their energy spheres ready in their hands.
"Why don't you make the first move, Hel?" Cagalli said.
Fllay narrowed her gaze at the blonde. "I swear I'll try to bring you back, Freya-san."
"I don't even think you can do that. You lack the ability, Hel."
The death goddess moved closer to get her momentum. Even though she had the field advantage, she still wasn't confident of winning. Fllay then jumped up, tossed two spheres at her and backed flipped away to land far from Cagalli.
As expected, Cagalli blocked every sphere with a simple barrier. She yawned and planted a fist on her hips. "Is that the best you can do or are you just lame?"
For a goddess who used to be kind and sensitive, Cagalli sure knew how to insult a girl, Fllay thought quietly. Jumping up, Fllay charged up and blasted a black beam at Cagalli.
"Too slow!" uttered Cagalli, easily dodging the beam. "Let me show you how it's done!" Cagalli raised her palm and blasted a yellow beam, which eventually hit Fllay in mid-air.
"She's fast," she muttered. She flipped over, landed on her feet, and dropped to her knees. She held her shoulder which got hit pretty badly. The battle has only begun and yet I… She slammed her other hand on the ground and gritted her teeth.
"Hel, I'm gonna ask you again." Cagalli sounded cold and serious. "Where is the necklace?"
Fllay breathed deeply. Didn't anyone get the memo? She will never reveal the location unless it's really necessary. She was about to continue when she saw the souls moving above Cagalli in a strange manner. Instinctively, she knew of a way to beat Cagalli.
"What's the matter? Can't talk?!" Cagalli was growing impatient. "I have no more time for this. If you don't tell me, then I'll have to kill you."
"Kill me?" Fllay laughed sinisterly. "That won't be necessary, Freya-san, for you see I'm already dead." She slowly stood and gazed at the blonde with emotionless eyes.
"I've had it with you!" Cagalli shouted, pointing her hand at her. "Die!" She fired a bright yellow beam from her palm straight to Fllay. However, the beam was deflected for some reason, so Cagalli stopped. She noticed souls floating around Fllay, acting like shields for her.
"With all the pressure, I almost forgot that I can use the souls in this world to my own advantage. Freya-san, it's sad to say that you will lose."
"Oh really? I'd really like to see that."
Spinning around, the spirits formed a mystical shine balls. The balls contained auras of different gods who died 20,000 years ago in the Ragnarok Battle. A radiant light shone in each ball, meaning they were all charged up.
With her eyes closed, she raised her arm. She felt her aura rising. She gestured her hands and circled it in rapid motion. She clasped her hands and brought it near her heart. When she opened her eyes, the mystic shine balls quickly charged forward at Cagalli.
"HUH?!" Cagalli moved to the side and jumped up to dodge the first two balls. While in the air, two more came after her. She immediately swung her body backward to let the two collide with another. She landed, stepped backward, and noticed more balls coming. She appeared frightened as she rapidly evaded each and every one. "Well, that was a pointless attempt."
Fllay cleared her throat. "It's not over yet."
As if on the cue, one last mystic shine ball hit Cagalli from the back and shocked her.
"I got you." Fllay smiled at her success. It was tough, but she did it with the help of the souls. "You'll be unconscious for a while, Freya-san, but you'll be fine after that," she assured.
Indeed, the shock was painful. It did not take long until Cagalli finally lose consciousness. When she dropped to the ground, Fllay dismissed her souls and went over to her. "Freya-san…" she muttered, feeling guilty for hurting Cagalli.
Suddenly, Fllay felt the presence of a familiar aura. "It can't be… This feeling…" She turned to scan the premises and noticed a figure standing centimeters away from her. She gasped, "Odin!"
"I congratulate you for putting a stop to Freya. Your powers are very invincible here in the underworld." Gilbert stepped forward and glanced at Cagalli. "If you don't mind, I'll take Freya and be on my way."
Fllay shrugged. "As if I'll let you do that! Odin, I know you're the reason why Freya-san is acting this way. You tapped into her power."
"So what if I did?" Gilbert plastered a smirk on his face.
"You scum!"
In response, Gilbert moved his arm in a slashing moment and unleashed a spiritual blade.
At the same time, Fllay flew into the air and summoned a Shadow Fiend. The fiend attempted to slash through Gilbert, but the god easily destroyed it with one spiritual blade.
"You're strong, Hel…" Gilbert frowned as he slowly looked up at Fllay. "But not strong enough." He swung his hand where a spear materialized. It was Gilbert's weapon, the Gungnir.
Fear struck Fllay's heart. The Gungnir was one of Odin's greatest treasures. With it, he can annihilate hundreds of mortals with a single swing. All gods have feared the Gungnir, including Fllay. "You knew your powers wouldn't work well here so you decided to bring out your weapon."
"Oh no… I merely brought it out to finish you off quickly. Besides, I don't want to waste my power on you."
Despite the power of the Gungnir, Fllay was not going to back down. She called forth the soul of older brother, Fenrir. A giant wolf god growling viciously appeared below her. "Nii-sama, please help me defeat Odin."
"It will be my pleasure, dear sister." Fenrir eyed Gilbert seriously as he showed his sharp teeth.
"Children of Loki, huh?" Gilbert targeted his spear at them.
Roaring, Fenrir moved in the speed of light and lashed out a heavy strike on Gilbert.
Gilbert had managed to block the paw with his spear.
"Darkness…Demise…Death!" Fllay uttered out to unleash a powerful force within her. A bright flash of white light mixed with dark light enveloped her. Dark Wings emerged from the surge of light. Fllay came out, harboring the Wings of Death. Her outfit has totally changed from her casual clothes to a black tube and black mini-round skirt.
Gilbert, sensing Fllay's aura, shoved Fenrir away and jumped backwards. He looked at Fllay, noticing the black aura coming out of her. "You finally showed your true self after for so long."
Fllay's eyes turned bloody red. "Zone, Sacred, Bereavement!" She put her hands forward and black flames spewed out of her palms. The flames circled her body and formed into a black fire phoenix above her head. She pointed at Gilbert and said, "Annihilate!"
The phoenix swooped down and burst flames at Gilbert.
During this, Gilbert simply put his spear in front of them and the flames were blocked. The phoenix was one of Fllay's powerful attacks and it was rather hard for Gilbert to stop it. Thinking quickly, he directed the flame towards Fenrir using his telepathy.
However, Fenrir was quick with his feet and he managed to avoid being burned. Regaining position, he once again attacked Gilbert but with his claws this time.
Gilbert jumped back, landed, and jumped up again. He swung his spear high up and tossed it like a boomerang towards Fenrir.
"Nii-sama, watch out!" Fllay hollered.
Fenrir did a good job dodging the incoming spear, though it was a close one.
"Not yet…" Gilbert muttered, as Fllay and Fenrir prepared for another attack. He used his telepathy to control the spear's movements. He made the spear charge at the siblings.
Of course, Fllay and Fenrir were much faster than the spear.
But since the spear was keeping Fllay and Fenrir busy, Gilbert went to the unconscious Cagalli and carried her in his arms. "I finally have you," he said.
At this rate, Fenrir fire blasted the spear away, making it return to the owner. As the two looked back at Gilbert, they were shocked to see him with Cagalli. "Let go of Freya-san!" Fllay demanded.
"I came for what I came for. I'm retreating." He turned his back at them and walked away.
"I won't let you!" grumbled Fenrir. He ran towards Odin and tried to stop him with his claws, but his claws went right through him. "An Illusion?"
Fllay dropped to her knees and stared at the ground. "I failed to protect Freya-san."
"Do not go and blame yourself, Hel," Fenrir told her. He sounded just like Shinn from the way he talked.
Speaking of Shinn…
The souls in the river and the spirits hovering above suddenly stopped and moaned. Fllay clasped her hands and sighed. With the dead acting like that, she knew that someone was coming. She turned to her right, sensing a strong aura from that direction.
A beam of light emerged from the ground. The light formed into 5 familiar figures.
"Hel!" Shinn quickly walked over to his daughter and hugged her. "Glad to see you're all right. You had me worried."
The death goddess let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Oto-sama."
He pushed her back to see her face. "Where's Freya?"
Fenrir bundled up. "Hel did manage to defeat Freya-sama in battle, but Odin came and took her away." He scratched his ear like a real dog.
"No kidding? Are you for real here?" Kira spoke up.
"I would not lie about these things, Freyr-sama."
"Freya…" Kira clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and clamped his eyes close. "Odin finally has Freya."
Athrun and Stellar were both standing by the river near a tree. Stellar was shielding Athrun from the souls with her power for his safety.
"Damn it!" Athrun grumbled as he landed a fist at the dead tree beside him. Once again he felt completely useless.
Shinn helped her daughter back to her feet and looked at his son, Fenrir. His lips curved into a smile because it has been a long time since he last saw Fenrir. He was happy to see him again, though Fenrir was only a soul now. "You came to help Hel, didn't you?"
Fenrir nodded. "Yes, Oto-sama, I did."
"Thank you, Fenrir."
"There is no need to thank me, Oto-sama. She is my sister and I only did what is right. I would have done the same thing for you."
He brushed his hand through his fur on his head to show Fenrir his gratitude. The smile on his face turned into frown as he faced Hel seriously. "Things are getting out of hand. Since Freya is with Odin now, I'm sure the battle is going to get harder."
Fllay gasped. "You're not thinking of—"
"The Necklace," Shinn finished her off. "It's the only way to seal Cagalli's power."
"The Necklace can help us bring Cagalli back," Kira added.
Athrun and Stellar walked over to the group as they heard the conversation about the necklace. From what Athrun gathered, there was much danger to the necklace. One thing for sure, he knew the necklace was risky.
"But isn't this what Odin wants?" Athrun said. "To get the necklace?"
"He will not get the necklace," Kira responded, sounding so solemn. "Freya will…"
"How are we going to give it to her? We won't be able to go near her with her power acting wild."
To Athrun's surprise, everyone stared at him as if he was guilty of something.
"Athrun-san, Freya-sama told us that you are the reincarnation of Alexander, the lover of Freya-san." Stellar stepped forward and strengthen the shield around him. "In the past, Freya's power also went out of control and no god or goddess was able to stop her."
Rey crossed his arms. "Except for one person…" He approached Athrun, placed a hand on his temple, and concentrated his aura towards his hand. "It was none other than Alexander or, should I say, you!" He unleashed a small force in his palm and inserted into Athrun.
"What the—" Athrun suddenly felt a pang of pain in his head. He backed away from Rey, held his head, and dropped to his knees. "What did you do?"
"Mind Scan…" Shinn muttered. He walked over to Rey and brushed away the hair covering Rey's right eye. "Your eye is back. Since when?"
"It's a long story, but Hel might brief you on the details."
"Hel?" Shinn glanced over his shoulder to see Hel smiling faintly.
"Now then…" Rey knelt to Athrun's level. "It's time for you to remember your past, Alexander."
Athrun glowed in a mysterious dark blue color. The pain in his head was getting worse as if it was going to burst. He couldn't stand it any longer. He let out a loud shout and fainted.
To be continued…
JC: I added a new character here known as Fenrir. He is a wolf god in the Norse Mythology, who is the son of Loki. Apparently, he is already dead and he's only a soul who can't leave the Underworld. Gilbert has his hands on Cagalli now. The gods are thinking of bringing out the Brisingamen and they're planning something for Athrun. Next chapter will be updated soon… Please review and no flaming.