He opened his eyes slowly, the creature oblivious to the fact that he had been sleeping for a long time. The first thing his eyes saw were a whitened shiny ceiling, which forced him to shut his eyes once again, for the light had stung his eyes. He opened them again but had trouble keeping them open, the light all around him blinded and hurt him. He blinked several times before he was able to open them fully. At last, when his eyes adjusted to the light of the room, he noticed that the ceiling was adorned with a beautiful golden chandelier and ivory colored stars that hung there as well, spinning slowly.
Then, the figure came to know that his face was hiding behind a mask, and timidly he brought his hands and arms out from underneath the white sheets that had been covering him and touched it, feeling its hardness.
Before he began to question himself about where he was or who he was, the masked figure suddenly remembered his very last memories, which appeared to be fresh in his mind. He gasped and became scared of what he saw in those thoughts, and he tossed the white sheets aside and jumped out of bed, ending in a defensive posture with his hands up to defend himself...
...To what two beings that had been within the room on the other side of the bed gasped in surprise and stared at him, his back and a pair of mighty dark wings exposed to them.
"Oh, Mistress Lorenta, he's come to his senses!" a crispy girlish voice that sounded more scared than amazed was heard then, one which made the recently awoken figure turn his head over his shoulder to stare behind him. The recently awoken being, who had a name, and that name was Saga, turned around fully and stared curiously at the two females that stood at the other side of the bed staring curiously at him in return. One, the older one, was dressed in a dark-purple long dress, while the other one wore a red and white silky yamato robe.
Saga seemed to pay them no heed after having laid eyes on them, though, for he was more surprised at the fact that he found out that he had dark wings at his back and that his skin was different in color from theirs.
“What? I have wings...and my skin is dark.” Saga cried in surprise as he stared at his hands. The figure then observed down at his torso and noticed that he was almost entirely naked, save for a black under cloth that protected his private parts.
“Of course you have wings,” a matured voice made him consider the talker, an old female about the age of thirty five, maybe more. “Don’t you remember anything about yourself?”
Saga stared questionably at her, wondering what she was about. He did not remember anything about himself, except for the fact that he had just awoken and that he was in this rounded ample room with two females. His memory held little information, Saga only saw himself being knocked to the ground by a beautiful and powerful winged figure...a female, but one he did not recognize.
He shook his head at the woman in response, but then his thoughts made him gasp again, and he retreated several steps, his face deformed in fear. What had happened to him? Who was the winged figure that he saw in his thoughts knocking him out cold?
“Mistress Lorenta,” the younger female cried after observing Saga's actions. “He’s going into a panic, I think we better go and tell Lady Freiya of this, she'll know what to do.” And the young servant of Mistress Lorenta was about to take off for the invisible door that only they could see, but a strong arm detained her from leaving.
“Stay put, Nanami,” Lorenta ordered, letting go of her shoulder. “He’ll be alright, his readings look solid, it’s just that he still has to recuperate his full memory.”
“What if he hurts us?” Nanami asked, her voice scared, the assistant truly afraid of the winged being.
“He wont hurt us,” reasoned Lorenta, believing the thoughts of her helper to be absurd. Lowering her voice and using one hand to cover the side of her mouth, she added, “He’s as inoffensive as a lady bug, we can easily deal with him if it comes to trading blows, Lady Lenneth took all his powers away.”
“Really?” Nanami shot her eyebrows up in surprise as she stared at her Mistress, her boss. “He’s a weak thing, then?”
Lorenta coughed and gave her assistant a scolding glare, which made the young goddess' face turn into a sour expression. “You know what he was...don’t say that of him.”
Nanami would have said something back, but then Saga, who had calmed down a bit, spoke again, directing a question at them.
"Where am I?” he still seemed dumbfounded and he continued to stare around the room, which felt cozy to him.
"Calm down," said Nanami, who had long thick black hair. She threw her hands out in front of her in a calming manner, mostly so that the winged figure would be able to see that she meant him no harm. "You've just awoken from your deep slumber, your memories will slowly be returning."
Saga rose his eyebrows at that, feeling very surprised. "Memories? Wait..." he closed his eyes and thought he remembered something crucial. He took his hand up to his forehead and touched it, and he said, "What I can barely remember is that I was knocked out cold by...this beautiful silver haired maiden..."
Mistress Lorenta and Nanami exchanged concerned looks.
Was that all he remembered? they both wondered.
“Lady Lenneth said he would have trouble remembering who he was during the first few days upon his awakening.” Lorenta murmured at Nanami, again using her hand to lower her volume. “She will be here by the time he fully remembers his past, so don’t be afraid.”
"Yeah,” said Nanami, noticing that Saga just remained staring at them. “That’s good news to hear, mistress, but maybe it is best if we force him back to the bed," Nanami pointed out then, her dark eyes returning to the ebon-skinned male, who she knew was a demon god and one who had brought war and destruction to the realm a few months ago. "He looks...weak and disoriented, and still he scares me."
"He'll be fine and we will be fine," Lorenta assured with a calm voice, and she started walking around the bed and toward the winged being, leaving a surprised Nanami behind the bed. “Are you sure you want to be walking towards him?” Nanami desperately cried, and she did not move from her stance.
“Positively, kiddo.” Lorenta answered and walked towards Saga unafraid. “He wont hurt me. As I’ve said, his body is here but his mind is still somewhere else.”
Saga's reddish orbs fell on Lorenta then, but the mage goddess just continued her brave walk towards him, truly unafraid.
Mistress Lorenta reached Saga and took a hold of one of his strong forearms, and as he looked at her from behind the mask, Lorenta said in her always calm and joyous voice, “Come, Saga, I think you need more rest for the time being. The answers will come soon enough.”
Saga was taller than Lorenta by five inches. He stood five feet ten inches while Lorenta stood only five feet and five inches, so he lowered his head a bit and looked at her curiously. “Saga,” he repeated her words, the demon thinking hard about that word alone. “Saga. Is that my name?”
Lorenta nodded at him with a courteous smile and led him back to the bed. Saga simply let himself be led, he had no other choice it seemed, and besides, he had begun to feel a terrible pain within his head, one which grew greatly all of a sudden.
“Aghh, my head!” he shouted in pain and became free of Lorenta’s hold on him. Feeling hurt, for his head felt as if it would explode due to the terrible pain that had suddenly appeared, he drove his hands up and grabbed at his head. “What is happening to me?” he shouted, spinning a full 360 degrees and holding tightly at his head with his hands. “This pain...it is too much...Aurghhh!”
Saga was forced to fall on his knees on the hard mosaic white floor, and Lorenta quickly turned to regard Nanami, her helper, who seemed as much afraid of the scene as Saga was in pain.
“Nanami, help me lift him back up and to the bed,” Lorenta cried as she tried to grab a hold of Saga, who was now writhing like a headless snake, his back and wings kissing the floor. “Relax, Saga, everything will be alright,” Lorenta comforted him in a soothing voice as she knelt beside him, her tender hands taking a hold of the demon’s arms. “The pain will go away...do you trust me?”
“Aurgghhh!” Saga, blinded by the much pain he felt coursing through his head, shoved her away. Lorenta, her face distorted in shock, skidded on her butt and back through the mosaic floor and ended some five or six feet away from her original position. Saga, she came to understand then, was very strong even though he was very weak at the moment.
"Mistress!" Nanami arrived then, and in her hand she was already beginning to summon a tranquilizing spell with which to hit the demon.
“Don’t!” Lorenta bellowed as she gathered herself up to one knee. “You could over dose him and kill him! Too many doses of sedative magic can drown his soul, it is a proven fact.”
“Right, then what?” Nanami shrieked, letting the spell die in her palm. The assistant headed to help the mistress stand back up, and over where Saga laid writhing in pain, he suddenly became very still, and his cries of pain subsided to low-sounding gurgling.
“We call Freiya in...” the mistress began to say, but then, she quieted down as she noticed that Saga had become as still as a statue.
“Oh no!” Nanami cried in fear as she too saw the unmoving demon. “He’s...I hope he’s not gone, mistress, Lady Lenneth will be so upset....”
And she, as well as mistress Lorenta, ran to him right away. They both knelt near him, one at each side, careful not to step on his outstretched wings. While Lorenta lifted his head up with her hands Nanami checked for a pulse.
“Well?” Lorenta asked her assistant, her eyes almost eating her in anticipation.
“He’s alive,” Nanami let her know, and she sighed heavily and smiled, as did Lorenta. "Look, he breathes slowly yet surely."
“Thank the Lady Lenneth!” Lorenta cried and suddenly found herself laughing nervously. “He must have passed out from the pain.”
“Yeah,” Nanami agreed, and she too found herself chuckling in total nervousness. They, who acted as a medical unit in Asgard, had never lost a patient here at the Tower of Sphere, or Sphere Tower, as the medical tower was also known as.
“Lady Lenneth said he would be feeling terrible migraines," Lorenta said then, after catching her breath. "that must have been one.”
Nanami just nodded, awaiting the order to lift him up. As she remained on her knees, she had to wonder if they two would be able to lift him. The day Saga had been transferred here he had been brought in on a stretcher with four mighty Angelus carrying it.
“Poor Saga,” Lorenta said, her voice full of pity as her eyes observed the fallen demon, and Nanami regarded her curiously. Lorenta caught her assistant’s curious look, and she added, “Yes, poor Saga...even if he did what he did against Asgard. He’s been entrusted to my care, I feel for him the very same thing I feel for all my patients...”
“I didn’t say anything,” Nanami apologized. “Forgive me if I insinuated anything bad with my behavior, mistress Lorenta.” and she lowered her head and closed her eyes, feeling full of shame.
“Just let us get him to the bed,” Lorenta said, deciding to drop the whole matter.
“How are we to do that?" Nanami rose her head again. "Do we use magic?”
“Magic?” Lorenta asked her. “That is one possibility, dear, but first let us try eagle style.”
“Eagle style?” Nanami was surprised, her risen eyebrows were witnesses to that.
“We’ll spread his arms out,” Lorenta told. “and carry him over to the bed carefully, it will be good exercise for us two fragile god-mages.” and she chuckled mirthfully, as did Nanami, for the mistress could be funny at times. Yes, Nanami realized they were just two weak female mages when it came to body size and strength, perhaps they did need a good exercise.
Nanami helped the older woman get Saga up, each on one side. They each put one of his arms across their shoulders and carried him on.
They were barely able to carry him so, for he was heavy. They struggled with him, with his two-hundred and twenty pound muscled body, but managed to get him to the bed after half a minute or so.
“Whew,” Lorenta chuckled, pleased that Saga now laid on the bed. “He’s heavy.”
Nanami agreed with a nod and covered Saga with the sheets and made sure he was well accommodated within the large bed, as an assistant to the mistress, that was her job.
Mistress Lorenta, who had regarded an hourglass that rested over where her desk was near one of the corners of the room, told Nanami when this one approached her. “Well, kiddo, it is about time for you to be on your way. I’ll stay here for a little longer, you are free to go and rest.”
“Yes, mistress.” Nanami understood. “I will prepare a good dinner for you tonight.”
“I am looking forward to it,” Lorenta smiled at her. “and Nanami?”
“Yes, mistress?”
“Do not tell anyone anything about what just happened here, I will deliver my full report to Lady Lenneth when Saga is released from my care.”
“As you wish,” Nanami bent her knees slightly and bowed respectfully, then headed for the invisible door on one of the walls, which would let her out and to the corridor of the tower.
The door had not been created to be invisible, when an unconscious and badly hurt Saga had been taken to the confines of that room for medical treatment four months ago, Lorenta herself had invoked a spell of invisibility that had hidden the door and two windows that were there on the walls as well, all for a measure of safety.
When Nanami exited through the door, Lorenta walked toward her entrusted patient and remained staring at him with a kind, motherly stare, one that she had always given her patients. As her hazel colored eyes remained transfixed on his mask, Lorenta wondered what sort of face could be hiding behind it. To her knowledge, no one knew what Saga looked like, so that day she was tempted to find that out. The wrongful thoughts invaded her head then. There could be no other better opportunity than this, she knew, with Saga fully out.
She thought about removing the mask but as soon as she had risen her arms to do so, she lowered them back down and stared off to the side with a disgusted look in her beautiful face. Her inner judgment had gotten the better of her and she rolled her eyes and scolded herself under her breath, wondering what Lady Lenneth would say of her actions. It certainly would not be something good. “I am sorry,” she muttered.
Lorenta grabbed at the sheets and pulled them a little closer to Saga’s neck, the mistress believing that he needed the warmth in order to rest well. She, with a kind smile drawn upon her face, for the mistress felt glad that she had not removed the mask, drove her stare toward her desk. At a simple flick of her fingers and a command from her mouth, a scroll, a bottle of dark ink and a white feather came flying to her. And Lorenta, sighing profoundly and feeling peaceful and proud of herself, began writing the next part of her report.
***
A few days later, a large group of elite Valhallans had come along with the All-Mother to the region of Aura, where Saga had been taken to after his battle with the Lady Lenneth.
Aura was just one of five regions that composed Asgard, the realm of the gods, also known as Valhalla. Besides Aura, which was the smallest and most pacified of all regions, there were the regions of Pahlinoor, Orfa, Argoth, and Elysia, all regions were named after the five original sons and daughters of the first god Aö. Of all the regions, Aura was the region which had not suffered great damage when war had come to the heavens.
Lady Lenneth came to the Aura region with only two of her top personal bodyguards and two elite goddesses, the rest of the squadron was ordered to keep a strict watch all around the region. The small group came upon a small castle where the overseer of the region resided. And Jzak Freiya, daughter of the Goddess Freya, received the group with open arms and much joy, though she was surprised that the All-Mother had not been accompanied there by her husband, a warrior god named Lucian. Despite her surprise at that, Jzak offered them the best of what her appointed region had to offer in terms of food and hospitality. Even though Asgard was the land of the gods, still these beings had a life and had to follow certain rules. They ate as humans and other beings below in Midgard did, they slept and rested, and they could also die if not careful. In other words, they carried along with life just as the Midgardans and many other creatures did in Midgard, the difference being that they were spiritual beings, yet very much as if in the flesh and bone.
After a short stay with Freya's eldest daughter, the All-Mother asked her to join her group, and Jzak Freiya did, knowing she was to take Lady Lenneth to Tower Sphere. That is precisely why the All-Mother had come after all, to check up on Saga.
Later that day, as Jzak Freiya was delivering to the All-Mother her reports of the region, she took the opportunity to ask her about Lucian, about why he had not come with her. As the husband he was to Lenneth, he had always been protecting her at all times, never leaving her side.
“Oh, my Lucian,” Lenneth had responded, her voice a sad one, as if troubled. “He would have come with me here, Jzak, you know that, except that he took the role of leader. He is leading the major force at Orfa, the creatures of darkness keep pushing through relentlessly, their aim total victory in that region. But be not worried about Lucian, I know his will to fight, he wont let those undead minions win. Your mother Freya is also there, as are other gods.”
Jzak Freiya nodded proudly at the mention of her mother, and she understood then why Lucian was not with the All-Mother. Jzak felt thankful that Lucian was doing that for the realm, fighting ferociously and keeping Asgard safe. So, very much satisfied at the given answer, Jzak Freiya had asked no more about the matter.
Early the next day, with the mighty companionship of her two bodyguards and that of Jzak Freiya, Mirökth Qä’Lugol, daughter to Thor, a god who had died in Ragnarok, and Shan Lu-Heimzal, daughter of Anubia, whom had also perished in Ragnarok, Lady Lenneth was taken to the remote area where Tower Sphere stood on top of a rocky mound. The tower was a medical clinic with mistress Lorenta at the head of it. Mistress Lorenta had been an Einherjar who had served Lady Lenneth back in the days when the All-Mother had been soul hunting as a simple valkyrie for Lord Odin.
Lorenta and her assistant Nanami, who had also served Lady Lenneth as an Einherjar, had been waiting for them outside of the mighty tower in company of other lower ranked gods that served in the tower. These lower ranked gods were known as minor gods, or Angelus. When the group saw the three-carriage caravan approaching, their spirits rose and became at ease.
The group who ran Tower Sphere could not have been more happier and thrilled than they were that day. They held joy within them and wide smiles on their faces when they met with the visitors, especially the All-Mother, who was always a sight to behold. She was their Supreme God, the Ruler of the Universe, and every being in Asgard loved her so much. Setting her eyes upon her, Lady Lorenta noticed how troubled she looked this day, and just like Jzak Freiya had noticed Lucian’s absence the day before, she too did as well, but wasn’t as curious to know why, she knew Lucian was probably busy handling important matters.
Upon the visitors’ arrival, they all went in to the largest room of the tower, where there was a large rounded table in the middle and seats at the sides already arranged for them to sit, for word had come to mistress Lorenta a day ago that the All-Mother would be coming. Lorenta had arranged it all, wanting only to please the All-Mother.
There, in that room they sat and discussed the issue that was Saga.
The All-Mother Lenneth was beyond beautiful, she had light skin, bluish eyes, silvery long silky hair and a dreamy rounded face. She was protected by her light-weight blue armor and winged helmet. She was surrounded by a powerful and invisible aura, yet one that made one feel very comfortably around the All-Mother. Though her appearance depicted worry and still showed a few remains of the cuts and bruises she had suffered in the fight against the perpetrator Saga, she still defined wholly the word beautiful. Residing in Asgard there was not a more beautiful figure than Lady Lenneth.
“How is he doing?” Lady Lenneth’s sweet sounding voice asked then, when all sat comfortably around the table. Those in the room perceived the weight behind the question, and the care and worry it had carried along as well.
All eyes turned to regard mistress Lorenta, who would be giving the answer. And she did, the mature looking woman not even taking a peep down at a report that laid on the table in front of her, she knew at heart what she would be giving as response. “He has been doing great, Lady Lenneth,” Lorenta calmly responded, using a tone full of respect, for it was the All-Mother who she was addressing. “His readings are normal, his body strength has been returning slowly and his thoughts as well. He still does not know what he came to do here, but many of his other memories have returned, he even knows his name.”
Lady Lenneth nodded, a pleased face showing for all to see.
“I am here to watch over him now,” Lady Lenneth continued in a solid voice that left no room for debate, to what Lorenta quickly nodded. The All-Mother perceived that she did so sadly, for Lorenta probably had become attached to the care of her patient, just as was her way with all patients. The loss of her human husband many years ago at the hands of a mad student had made the female mage appreciate life. Not one patient Lorenta had looked after had been lost to death.
“And not because I don’t trust in your abilities, mistress Lorenta,” Lady Lenneth went on. “You have done a superb job healing and mending beings under my orders. But the time is approaching for Saga to remember wholly who he is, I will allow him to regain that memory back, which I took from him after our battle. I just want all of you to be safe when that time comes. I myself will deal with him from now on.”
Lady Lorenta nodded approvingly. There was nothing more she could do now, and she didn’t want to, either. She knew who Saga was, and though she had cared and had become attached to him, she knew he now was left in the hands of the All-Mother, for she alone would be able to stand against him, no other beings in the realm had been able to stand against the terrible Saga when he had brought war and destruction upon the realm.
“I believe I will reassign your whole unit,” Lady Lenneth went on, making Lorenta rise her eyebrows in surprise. “There are many wounded all over Asgard that have not healed fully, your healing abilities will help many recover faster. Are you okay with returning to Elysia?”
“Elysia?” Lorenta asked very surprised, for she had been there only for a while back when she had been sent to Valhalla by the valkyrie Lenneth. She had been assigned to come to Aura soon after and run things here back when Lenneth had claimed the throne, she had hardly had the time to see all the magnificent scenes there had been there to see in that region that many gods believed to be the most beautiful of all. The main palace was there, as well as beautiful tall mountains that surrounded it. There were gorgeous lakes as well as many other beautiful sights. Lorenta was not about to refuse. “Yes, My Lady, I have no problem,” she added with a grand smile, to which Lenneth smiled and nodded back.
“Very well,” Lenneth said then, turning her stare to one of her companions. “Shan, you are in charge of their trip back to Elysia, I know you will deliver them safely. You may stay there until further notice.”
A beautiful, short haired brunette goddess who wore a spiky corona around her forehead nodded and said, “It will be done, My Lady.”
“Take Arngrim with you,” Lady Lenneth went on. “In case you run into trouble along the way.” The mentioned male, who was as brawny and cocky as men came, quickly smirked and turned to look at Shan, who sat on the opposite side of him. When Shan regarded the god, Arngrim winked at her. “I am ready whenever you are, cutie,” was what he said, to what Shan just shook her head.
“What?” Arngrim said in a hurt voice. “It will give us a chance to know each other better. I hardly know you.”
“You are right,” Shan responded nicely. “I did have plans to chat with you before, you know, come to learn more of the man everyone feared back when you were a Midgardan.”
“Yeah, I bet you did,” Arngrim chuckled and showed her a disarming smile. “Many want to know of me, of my past life, consider yourself lucky, I will tell you all about me during our trip to Elysia.”
Shan nodded and managed to show him a smile which let the god know she was looking forward to it.
“That leaves me with you Jzak, and you, Mirokth,” Lenneth took the word again, as she stared at the mentioned females one by one. “You are in charge of making sure this region is secured for the upcoming days, until my business with Saga is through.”
The two females nodded, knowing what their tasks would be. From her place on the table, Lorenta wondered what this business could be all about, but she did not say anything, those were matters that the Lady Lenneth would resolve, not her. She was going to Elysia, that is all she cared about at the moment.
“As to you, Badrach,” Lenneth then set her eyes on a menacing looking man, one who would have looked as a simple drunk or dirty-clothed beggar down in Midgard. “You will serve me as messenger.”
Badrach, as were all in the room, was a god, though of lower rank still. During his stay in Asgard he had not performed that much, so his rank was low, classified only as a Level 3 god. He still resembled his own self back when he had been a human living in Midgard. Not only him, but all Einherjar resembled their own human selves, the only difference being that they were alive in spirit form.
“Eh? Messenger? Why does Arngrim get to have all the fun with the women?” he complained, and he even leaned forward on the table and stared hard at Arngrim, who stared back and laughed lightly.
“Fun?” Arngrim countered then. “We will be traversing through one of the most hostile regions in Orfa, where the damn undead keep pouring out. Damn Brahms and his minions, they just don’t ever stop their assault upon us, do they!”
“Brahms my...” Badrach began a curse, but stopped himself just in time.
“Enough!” Lady Lenneth sounded unpleased, though surely she was not angry, she hardly ever was. “You will get your fun soon, Badrach, but for now I will need you to act as messenger. I want to know how the main force is doing in Orfa, you’re to go seek Lucian and Freya and ask for a report.”
“And who is to go with me there?” Badrach dryly asked in his rough tone and he scratched the back of his head. “A companion would come handy, I get bored easily if there is no one to talk to, and I do hate talking to myself like a babbling idiot.”
“You old fool, you were always good with the tongue,” Arngrim said and glanced at the others, drawing a few suppressed chuckles. “As good as you are with that crossbow of yours, I’ll give you that.”
“Why you little runt!” Badrach slammed a fist on the table, Lady Lenneth just rolled her eyes, turned her head aside and suppressed a chuckle, she did love the way those two always had something to say to each other. Before having saved them long ago, they had done many jobs together as mercenaries.
But now, as they sat around the table, was not the time for unpleasantries, Asgard was in the brink of being eliminated, what with Saga’s attack upon the heavens, Asgard had been left weak and vulnerable, and the forces of evil were taking every little advantage of that and were pressing them sorely even as the group sat there discussing. Lady Lenneth knew that her group of friends were simply not about to lose all hope and surrender so easily, not even their sense of humor.
“Let us get serious here,” Lenneth proposed then, wanting to bring control to what suddenly had turned into a little argument. “You can take Mirokth along, Badrach.”
“Really?” Badrach’s foul mood and hardened face lightened up at the All-Mother’s words, and he turned to regard the beautiful Mirokth.
“If you want me to go, I will gladly go,” Mirokth said instantly, the goddess was always fast to obey. “Though be advised that I don’t assure you that I will be able to hold my jolting impulses back.” Mirokth, whose torso, arms and legs were covered with silvered light-weight steel plates, laughed lightheartedly. She also wore a three-point diadem around her head.
“I know how you like jolting those that are around you,” Badrach already knew of her little tic. “But I think I have a solution to that, daughter of Thor.”
Mirokth rose her eyebrows and nodded, to what Badrach added, “I wont let you know though.”
“Whatever,” Mirokth simply said, and she chuckled, for her feelings were not hurt at all.
“When do we depart?” Badrach asked the All-Mother.
“Later today,” Lenneth replied. “I still need to compose a message for Lucian.”
Badrach nodded and relaxed in his seat and put his hands at the back of his head, his face showing satisfaction, for he would not be going alone.
“You wont be disappointed of old Badrach,” Badrach grumbled, his tone civil and relaxed, his words directed at Mirokth. “We will get to talk about many things, particularly about my own deeds as a human, you will be delighted in knowing that I am better than that brawny guy over there.”
Arngrim just chuckled.
“Yes,” Mirokth responded at Badrach. “I can’t wait.”
Minutes later, the meeting was adjourned and everyone stood to take care of their business.
***
(Part 3)
2 Days Later
A very much recuperated Saga both in memory and strength stood staring hatefully at the All-Mother from within his magical prison. Earlier that day, knowing that Saga would find a hard time in accepting to talk, in accepting his defeat, in accepting that he was still alive, Lady Lenneth had cast a protective barrier all around the room and in between. She stood on one side while Saga stood at the other. No one else was in the room, for Lady Lenneth had given strict orders to Jzak Freiya that none were to come in. Not that anyone would anyway, the Tower Sphere workers had left earlier yesterday, leaving only Jzak Freiya and Lenneth, along with a contingent of guards that Jzak Freiya had called to service to guard the place.
As soon as Saga had regained his senses that morning and had noticed the silver haired maiden standing within the room, he had rushed after her in an attempt to attack her, for he had known who she was. His memories, his past life, had come back to him fully when he had awoken. The magical barrier had done its job superbly and Saga had ended on his butt back in the portion of his side.
Embarrassed and angry, the demon had stood up again and attempted to break the wall by pounding it, his shoulders leading. He wasn’t able to, but still he persisted, one thought in his mind only: To kill the All-Mother.
“You can try to break free all you want, Saga,” Lady Lenneth had told him, the All-Mother feeling a little worried that he could end up hurting himself if he continued his unsuccessful attempts. “The barrier will not break, not unless I allow it. Your powers, as you can probably feel, have returned, as have all your memories. I have allowed it so. Still, your power is not enough to defeat this barrier.”
Saga had not stopped in his attempts to break free of the surrounding barrier, but he had listened to her words. The demon had gone on smashing against the barrier for a long hour, until he had decided to take a break, for his shoulders now hurt with pain. He had gone to sit off to a corner, his arms crossed and his fiery eyes on the figure at all times. The demon had sat to ponder on the situation, on why was it that he still remained alive. That thought alone was the cause of his anger. He had lost to the All-Mother, he had begged her to end his life, and yet...here he was behind a magical prison...alive.
Knowing that Saga would not be speaking to her, his resentment was much, Lady Lenneth had mostly done all the talking. If Saga had paid any attention to her words, she did not know, he did not show it, showed nothing at all, except pure hatred towards her from behind his dark mask.
After a while, Saga had stood back up and had attempted his escaping charade again, to no avail, the wall was not going anywhere. He pounded it with balled fists and even his head, but nothing happened, the only thing that did happen was that the demon was beginning to hurt himself even more.
“I will get out of here,” Saga had promised grimly. “And when I do, I will kill you with my bare hands for having kept me alive.”
Lady Lenneth had not responded right away, instead she had remained staring at him with a kind stare. The All-Mother knew Saga was no match for her anymore, not without his powerful weapons, which she had dealt with four months ago.
To Saga’s surprise, the All-Mother had magically made a big blue chest appear next to her, an action that caught Saga’s eye. He wondered what was in that chest.
A few seconds later, the All-Mother had taken the word again. Sitting on top of the chest, she began, “Listen, Saga. Just relax, there is no point in you trying to escape, all you are managing to do is hurt yourself, and that worries me, for I don’t want you to get hurt. When you hurt yourself you hurt me, you make me feel hurt. I don’t wish for you to be hurt, all the contrary, I wish for you to be calm so that we can openly talk.”
“Talk about what? The date of my execution?” Saga spat and stood staring menacingly at the Goddess, his arms crossed, for the demon had had enough of trying to escape. He knew that the All-Mother spoke the truth, he would not be able to escape, so the demon had opted to hear her out, to hear what she had to say.
“Hardly,” Lady Lenneth quickly said, her stare on him at all time. Saga did not blink, a wave of hope coursed through his body at the mention of that. “Just hear me out for now, there will be a time for you to speak, but right now it is important that you hear me out.”
“Speak then,” Saga said, his voice still sour. “I am listening, not that there is anything else I can do, I am your prisoner, it seems.”
“The truth of the matter is that I wish to remove the barrier,” Lenneth told him. “we Valhallan’s have no desire to treat beings as mere prisoners. You have never been one, nor have you been treated as such, but what you must understand well is the fact that I had to surround ourselves with that barrier, for your own good and mine.”
Saga just remained standing in his place, hearing it all.
“You must be very angry at me for having kept you alive, Saga. You pleaded me for a swift ending when our battle came to a conclusion, and yet...”
“And yet you kept me alive. Why?” Saga’s stare hardened, and he rushed closer to the wall but stopped well short of coming in contact with it.
The All-Mother relaxed and dropped her stare to the floor, believing that she had Saga’s undivided attention. That was good for the time being, but she knew she was not victorious in what she had come to do.
“Why? Because I would never strike down a defenseless being, and besides, a departed soul is worth nothing to me,” she calmly replied, her bluish stare going back to him. “Every time a soul is lost forever, it saddens my whole being completely, and I hate that!” her voice sounded really hurt, broken, pained. “I hate it!”
Saga just stared curiously at her from behind his mask, wondering why she was hurt and saddened so easily.
The All-Mother left her sitting position on the chest and stood up. She started pacing back and forth with her hands behind her back, perceiving that behind his dark Mask Saga was a little confused.
“Oh, so you are trying to say that I am worth something?” Saga ridiculed. “After what I have done, I doubt my soul means anything. How many dark gods did I kill in my wake for power? How many humans and other Midgardan creatures did I lay waste to before your troops came calling? How many of your pathetic servants did I slay in my...”
“Stop!” Lenneth shouted, disturbed and hurt, and Saga, behind his mask, smiled, knowing he had hurt her, or at the very least, made her feel very uncomfortable.
“You are right,” Lenneth said then, coming to a stop right in front of him. Their stares met again. “Your soul is as dark as night itself is, Saga. You really don’t deserve to be alive, for you did cause much trouble and pain for me and to many other beings. You left the world below and my realm in chaos and ruin, you took so many lives, killed even gods here in Asgard that I loved more than friends. You deserved nothing but a swift death, you deserved nothing from my part except for me to send you to that dark place where there is no return from.”
“Cocytos,” Saga laughed absurdly, and he began to walk away, uninterested of the whole conversation. “I was there once visiting and...I’ll have you know now, it is not such a terrible place.”
“Cocytos?” Lenneth countered, making him stop and turn around to face her again. “No, I am not talking about that dark, depraving place. I was referring to Oblivion, a place you know not about.”
“Oblivion?” Saga spat, walking closer to her, the demon having heard only rumors and tales about such a place. “The place that is said to be the total end of a living soul, of one’s true existence. Does it really exist?”
“It exists. It is a place unlike any other,” Lenneth assured him with a troubled face. “No one that has gone there has returned. There is no return, Saga, just a one way ticket to it. I have seen it...for I hold the keys to it.”
At that, Saga gulped lightly and his reddish orbs concentrated on her, the demon truly enticed to hear more about such a place. Lenneth noticed that the demon was waiting to hear more, but she knew other matters were more important.
“Would you have liked to go there, Saga?” she asked, her voice as tight and serious as she could muster, for one whose soul had become darker than night itself was not easily frightened. “Because that place was where I had in mind sending you back then.”
“I was destined to go to Cocytos, nowhere else,” Saga reasoned, still chuckling behind his mask. “I...my soul is dark, yes, isn’t Cocytos a place designed to receive those whose soul has tainted to the extent of darkness, like me, for example?”
“Cocytos,” Lenneth shook her head disgustedly. “An abomination, a secondary creation of a foul place that goes against all the laws and meaning of life, a place that steals souls and tortures them day and night. Argoth created it, the first celestial son to disobey the All-Father. It is a disgraceful place that should not even exist. Souls of many kinds of beings are tortured there every passing second.”
Saga chuckled, “A good place to pay for one’s trespasses, eh? Shouldn’t a murderer deserve to go there and pay for his sins? Or perhaps a...”
“No!” Lenneth shook her head, disgusted at the mere thought of it. “No one should be forced to pay such a terrible high price for mere bad behavior. Your deeds are forgotten and forgiven once you die, nothing more, as was the law the first All-Father set. Cocytos is a secondary abomination that defiles the value of life and goes against all that is precious. It is a despicable place.”
“Secondary?” Saga cried, surprised. “That is the second time I hear you mention that. Is there another foul place besides Cocytos, then?”
“Oblivion,” Lenneth reminded him. “That is the primary abomination, Saga, where souls go and are never seen again in the cycle of life--ever. The very place I was going to send you to,” she walked back to the chest leaving Saga staring at her. “Because I control who is thrown in there, as the All-Mother I have rights to that.”
“Why didn’t you send me then?” Saga questioned, his tone calmer and yet harsh.
Lenneth sat on the chest again and crossed her arms, her eyes went to land on Saga. “I already told you why, Saga.”
Saga remembered what she had said back then. “You kept me alive for a reason...you didn’t want my soul lost forever, you didn’t want to send it to...Oblivion. Is that it?”
Lenneth nodded calmly at him. “No one deserves to go there, no matter their offences. Not even you, Saga. No soul deserves the infinite death.”
“But you know we are enemies,” Saga reasoned. “you know that you have saved my life, kept me alive, to what end? Surely you don’t want me to be free because you know what would come to happen then.”
Lenneth sighed deeply and shook her head sadly. “You would probably come against me again, and the never ending cycle of good versus evil, of life and death, the pursuit of power and glory, would have no end.” she rose her head again and stared directly at Saga. “I know this will sound absurd to you, but you must hear it regardless.”
Saga remained quiet, knowing what was coming. He knew the All-Mother was about to explain why she had truly kept him alive.
“I want to end it all once and for all,” she said with a stern, serious voice, and she got back on her feet and walked toward Saga. “I am talking about the wrongness of the world,” she went on. “The differences, the pain, the anguish, the suffering, the troubles, evil itself, all that was brought upon every living being due to the disobedience of the first son. I want to right it all again and stop the flow of the current cycle. I want things restored as they were right from the beginning, as things should be. I have set myself this primary goal after our battle, Saga,” her eyes were gleaming, Saga noticing that she was about to cry. And Lady Lenneth cried silently without feeling shame, let several teardrops drop from the corners of her eyes, and she stared at Saga. “You can help me achieve it, that is the very reason I allowed you to remain alive. Our battle changed many things for me.”
“Preposterous,” Saga cried and retreated a few steps back, though not because of what the All-Mother had said, rather at the feeling he had felt within his heart. Having seen the Goddess crying had made his heart vibrate with a weird mix of emotions, a sort of feeling he had never experienced before. Was it pity and care for others?
“I...am not...sure what it is you want of me...I don’t even...I am not worthy of your mercy...I...should be dead now, I can‘t help you...I am just a dark soul who has...”
“Saga,” Lady Lenneth announced, knowing what the demon had experienced within, his dark senses, his hardened shell had begun to crack. “In mere seconds I will dismiss the barrier and you will be free to attack me if those are your wishes. Know, however, that if you do, there will be no choice for me but to act accordingly. I wont stay my hand this time, I will show you the real state of your doom, though I hardly want to do that.” She drew her beautiful radiant sword out, and Saga just remained standing there, his thoughts not working as well as they should be. The demon felt his head swirling with so many thoughts and emotions, he was very confused and sort of angry at the All-Mother for having caused this weird sensation, this inner reaction of him. Saga was not sure what would happen when the All-Mother dismissed the barrier.
***
(Part 4)
Lady Lenneth turned her head over to the chest and motioned her hand to it, sending a magical command at it to open. It did, the lid popping up instantly.
“Within the chest are your sword and your armor,” Lady Lenneth announced as she returned her attention to the demon. “I took the liberty to repair the armor. You know you need those weapons if you are to have a chance at me, I wont stop you, for I wouldn’t dare strike an unarmed foe.”
The All-Mother then closed her eyes and dismissed the barrier, though Saga never knew it until she opened her eyes and let him know of her actions.
He remained standing there as if frozen, the demon not knowing what to do, what to say. His reddish orbs did fall upon the chest, where his weapon and his armor awaited.
“Go, take them,” Lenneth bade him when his unsure stare fell upon her. “They are rightfully yours. Attack me if you must, just remember what I have told you, I will defend myself.”
Saga remained standing there for several long minutes, truly not knowing what to do. He was free to act again, free of the confines of the magical barrier. He could now strike at the All-Mother as he had thought about doing so earlier. He slowly took a step forward and felt wrong doing it. Lady Lenneth did not move, rather remained in her position a few feet away from the chest, sword at the ready but not held in a threatening manner.
Saga took another heavy step forward, then another, and soon, he reached the chest and took a peek down at it. Indeed his dark sword Nefarious and his armor were there. His sight returned to Lenneth, who merely nodded at him.
“I...” Saga started to say. “I...” and he reached into the chest and grabbed his sword, bringing it out to observe the blade thoroughly. The dark blade that had taken so many souls, that had sucked those souls’ essence and had made him stronger, was back in his hands, and Saga felt its terrible power as it coursed through his entire body. The blade hungered for more souls, more power, though Saga now felt a little weird wielding it. “I...am Saga, the lord of...evil.”
Then he chuckled and shook his head, and as he turned to regard the All-Mother, he simply let the blade fall to the mosaic floor, where it clang loudly, and he shrugged. “Or rather was. I was defeated by you...I don’t know how many days ago...”
“It’s been four months and five days,” Lady Lenneth assured him, curious as to why he had dropped the blade, the pointy tip was pointing in her direction. That only made her grip her sword tightly, for Saga had been a very deceptive opponent, from him she could expect anything.
“Four months,” Saga realized and chuckled. “Really, has it been that long?”
“It’s been that short a time,” Lenneth replied, maintaining her calmness. “You spent most of that time here in this room, regaining your strength. As I told you before, you have never been our prisoner.”
Saga pondered about her words, taking them to heart, then he reached into the chest and grabbed his armor, which he noticed was now of an ivory color, instead of the dark hue it had once had. At that, he turned to regard the All-Mother.
“The elves’ fire made it turn to that color,” Lenneth answered his unspoken question. “They were able to repair it but the dark aura was lost, and I am sorry for that, Pliapakkus’ dark legacy is no more.”
Saga just gave her a simple nod and then started to put the armor on, covering his torso and then clamping it at the back. Saga, with his torso now covered once again by the strong armor, bent down to retrieve his fallen blade.
When at last he stood back up with it, Lady Lenneth lined herself up to remain standing in front of him ready to do battle. Saga too, took his stance.
He remained staring defiantly at her, his reddish orbs burning wildly, but then, to the All-Mother’s surprise, he simply blurted out chuckling and dropped the blade again, saying, “This feels so wrong. I have lost to you that very first time we battled, All-Mother. I gave it everything I had and lost, I had resigned myself back then to that fact and accepted my defeat at your hands, I couldn’t battle you again, and not because I would be afraid of being sent to that place you call...Oblivion, but because...I simply don’t wish to do battle with you again, not after you have defeated me already.”
“I gave you a second chance at life, that is all,” Lady Lenneth told him. “Just as I have given many other beings a second chance. I was and still am in part the Chooser of the Slain, I alone decide what I do with one’s soul.”
“You gave me a second chance without my consent,” Saga blurted, though not accusingly, he rather chuckled after he said that. “There must be something you want from me that you haven’t told me about. What is it that you want from me?”
“You wont strike me now that I am in front of you? No barrier is standing between you and I, Saga, perhaps this time things turn out different and you win, to the ruin of all.”
Saga pondered on her words for a short while, the temptation for someone as he was, was overwhelmingly tempting, he who had desired total domination over everything not so long ago. Yes, having the All-Mother standing in front of him ready to battle was very tempting...
...But still, Saga did not move an inch. He sighed lightly, then, and he shook his head and assured the All-Mother, “My life ended with my defeat those four months ago. There is nothing I desire any more, for I set out to conquer and got conquered in the end. If I thought to strike you earlier it was simply because I was upset that I was still alive. Everything should have ended that day, All-Mother, you shouldn’t have had pity on me.”
“I know,” Lenneth said, lowering her blade aside. “As the All-Mother I know many things. I couldn’t destroy you, Saga. Not when I know you alone can help me achieve what I am after.”
“How can I help you achieve that?” a surprised Saga wanted to know.
And Lady Lenneth, who had anticipated dealing with Saga would be hard, let him know now that she had the chance. “By joining us and performing for me,” she told him and remained staring at him. “You alone were born in the confines of Niflheim, you know the darker realms better than anyone. You conquered many of those places, spent your earlier years there growing up. You...we need you, Saga! I need you!”
Incredulous is what Lenneth thought Saga felt behind his mask. His eyes glistened like a burning fire and he just stood there observing her, perhaps his thoughts working to make a decision.
Indeed, Saga remained frozen, the words surely rocked him and got him thinking. The All-Mother wanted him to join her ranks! To join the good side! Saga lowered his head, not knowing what to respond, for he knew that if he joined, he would be turning his back on everything he had been, would be turning his back on his mother and those many other dark beings.
He really did not know what response to give, but he did not need to, because Lenneth sheathed her radiant sword and then said, “I told you it would be an absurd thing that you would hear, and you have. You were born a demon and acted as such all your life, the choice before you is killing you, is giving you a hard time deciding. It is a choice of choices that now you have to make. Listen, Saga, I only offer to you what is right. Help me restore everything back to the way it should be, if we succeed, I will reward you greatly in the end, believe me, it would be a reward unlike any other.”
Saga lifted his head up and locked his eyes with those of the beautiful Goddess. The All-Mother started shedding silent tears anew, and she started walking toward the demon, unafraid. “Long ago I died, lost my precious life to my own sister Hrist, who now sleeps in Paradise because I so will it. I never intended to become the being I am now, it happened because of the intervention of beings who were there when most I needed them, even an enemy of mine choose sides back then and helped achieved what I now am, a human wizard. You can change sides too, Saga, there is much at stake now, not just a simple soul. Everything is at stake here, for know now that even as we speak, the forces of evil are pressing us hard, wanting nothing more than to destroy us, for your attack upon us left Asgard nearly in ruin, we are weak. If the enemy conquers us, if they destroy me, all is lost, Saga, life as you know it is lost, for with my passing nothing will remain, not even those who succeed in bringing me down, for my life is bound to the universe. I now will show you what will come to happen should I die...and I do beg your forgiveness...”
And before Saga could do anything, the All-Mother suddenly reached with her hands and grabbed his. They remained standing face to face, separated apart by mere inches and their eyes locked on each other.
Saga was unable to put much of a resistance, the All-Mother’s power was much more than his, he understood that as she held his hands tightly. He suddenly felt a weird, rheumatic sensation coursing through his body, one which took hold of him greatly and made him feel very weak in a matter of seconds. Lenneth, through that power, showed him a vision of the true loss of all life, the universe’s total obliteration, the state of hopelessness found in the void that would remain with her passing.
“Oblivion,” she murmured harshly, though Saga heard her words loudly in his mind, which seemed to cut him at every corner of his being. The room started spinning on Saga, and the demon did not know how he ended on his back on the mosaic floor a few seconds later, neither had he registered the pain of the fall, but he remembered everything the All-Mother had made him experience, and her words. Too weak he found himself laying there on the floor that he barely had the strength to gulp lightly and open his tired eyes, which were staring at the ceiling. And he was sweating as never before behind his mask.
“Saga,” Lenneth knelt beside him and grabbed his hands again. “Rise up.”
And Saga instantly did, for the All-Mother had furnished him new strength. His whole being had suddenly become strong again, Saga’s strength returned wholly, and he felt glad to be back on his feet, feeling very much alive.
Saga let his stare fall on the All-Mother, the beautiful Goddess smiling kindly at him in return.
“I did beg for your forgiveness for such an act,” she pointed out, to what Saga simply nodded. “You, of all beings, had to know, you had to understand the value of life. You came seeking to destroy me in order to obtain my power, but now you know what will come to happen should that ever happen, and by what I can feel of you, you don’t want that to happen.”
“I know now,” Saga gasped with a truly broken and defeated voice. His breathing came in hard intakes, his inner being still shaken at what he had experienced, that terrible doom, that horrible state of being nothing, of being inexistent. “Forgive me, All-Mother, if only I had known fully the consequences of my actions...I would have never come seeking your life.”
“All that is forgiven now,” Lady Lenneth said, convinced more than ever that Saga would not dare attack her, not after what she had showed him and made him experience. Saga then fell to one knee and said, “My life is yours. I accept the offer which you have presented before me. My life now serves you in the purpose to restore things as you want.”
Lenneth, the All-Mother, smiled down upon him and blessed him with her thoughts. She sighed lightly and her whole being felt relaxed. She had managed to get from Saga what she had wanted four months ago.
“Relax, Saga,” Lenneth told him, almost feeling his anxiousness to get started. “We have much work to take care of,” she added. “Rise, for no one kneels before the All-Mother, I am not one who takes praise nor other such respectful tributes to heart, all that ended with the passing of the true All-Father Aö, he alone deserved tribute and praise, for he was the one who created everything.”
Saga reflexively rose, and he remained staring at the All-Mother.
“Today we shall depart back to Elysia,” Lenneth told as she bent down to retrieve the sword of Saga. She did not give it back to him, rather threw it within the chest, which closed at a command from her and disappeared from view. Saga protested not, nor did he really care about the sword, he remembered all the evil deeds he had performed with it. He knew he would not be seeing that sword again.
“There, at the main palace, I will explain with greater detail what is it that I want you to do.” Lady Lenneth added. “So, are you ready to depart, Saga?”
Saga nodded at her and said. “Yes, I am ready, All-Mother.”
“You can just call me Lenneth,” she said with a genuine smile. “Every creature that resides here in Asgard does, I expect of you to do so as well.”
Saga, with a blush of embarrassment behind his mask, agreed with a nod.
(End of Chapter 1)
sorry it took so long. This is just the short introduction to the whole story, at least it will get you guys/gals started. I wanted to have Chapter 1 ready to make this post longer, but it seems time is not working with me this night. Hopefully I will have that one done and posted tomorrow. The story is rated PG-13, expect to find battles, blood, gore, a little bit of romance perhaps and maybe a little minor cussing. This Fan-Fic is based off of Valkyrie Profile and takes place after the game's Main ending. All Rights reserved to Square Enix.
