Oblivion's Joy Valkyrie carefully placed the large cage of icy glass on the ground, giving her trapped sister a longing stare. She touched the surface of the crystal, aching with terrible passion to touch and embrace the woman behind, yet her sense of duty tore her apart from mournful pleasures and set her sights on the abandoned castle. She took to the air and raised her arms, along with her wings, for Odin and the gods to channel their powers through. "Look away and cover your eyes," she instructed Celia before beginning the destruction. Celia did so, hoping the blast would not damage anything it was not meant to. Hrist then focused all her power on the manor, and screamed to Asgard above. "By the power of almighty Odin, All-Father and creator of the Second Order of Worlds, I beseech the righteous powers of Asgard to flow through my body and send out justice unto the heathen lands! Woe, woe, woe unto the inhabitants of the earth, for their doom is now!!!" A magnified blast of vermilion-colored energy came gushing out of Valkyrie as her prayer was answered, and quickly slammed into Brahms' Castle with the force of a meteor. The entire place was torn apart instantly, and as the blast enveloped the entire property, every single stone in the castle disintegrated into atomic particles. Even the very island that held host to the nightmarish place was scorched beyond repair, and from a great distance high above, one would be able to see the permanent scar made by the wrath of gods. Celia kept herself hidden until Hrist flew down, touched her, and bade her stand. They both breathed another sigh of relief, and Valkyrie thanked her comrade one more time. Their focus then turned to the crystal barrier around Silmeria, which could not be broken by any simple means. Hrist glowered. "This will be a trickier task," she said. Valkyrie became silent and studied the crystal in hopes of coming up with a solution. Celia obeyed the urge to touch it, and placed her hand on the solid surface. It was as smooth and cool as glass, but probably thicker than diamonds. She heard a faint sizzling sound coming from the crystal, and noticed a wisp of smoke rising up. She removed her hand, astonished to find a faint impression was still left upon the surface, as if she had melted the magic away with a mere touch. "What is this?" she questioned. Celia looked down at her hand and noticed that it still had some blood on it from the fight with Brahms--her blood. She scooped up a bit with her finger and pressed it against the glass. Smoke rose up as the cage sizzled, and a tiny hole was left where she had touched it. The eyes of the Valkyrie widened with surprise. "Of course! Human blood!" "What?" "‘Human blood is the catalyst of their primitive but ruinous power'," she said, quoting one of the gods. "Tis' the blood of humans which the undead seek most; it's the source of their great strength. The blood of the living has incredible powers; Brahms knew this well, and used it to his advantage." "How?" "He has known for ages that the Aesir were to battle him," said Hrist with an airy voice. "Lady Freya and I especially, more than any of them. He also knows that I, the Valkyrie driven to slay him, seldom takes the souls of the dead as Einherjar. He must've used this kind of magic to lure me and my living warriors to his realm, wherein he would take their lifeblood and defeat me in a stronger form. Gah, the villain! He used Silmeria to grow stronger!" "That sounds very complicated," admitted Celia, "but now that we know what will work on this magic, we can use it to free your sister." Celia looked up at the crystal, an object larger than her by about an arm's length, then touched her sword hilt. Valkyrie saw the subtle action and chewed on her lip. "Human, I know what you are planning to do. In truth, a part of me wishes that you did not, but ultimately, I know you desire freedom as much as I desire hers. We would both acquire what we desired in a single action, and you will have found your final good cause." Celia nodded at the Valkyrie and smiled. She was flattered that Hrist, a woman who seemed nightmarish and wicked, could have such feelings (but then again, she had helped fight Brahms). The redhead helped her mistress lower the crystal onto the ground horizontally, and carefully climbed on top of it. She stood upon the surface of clear glass, taking one final look at the world around her. Celia recalled Lawfer's story one more time, and couldn't help but smile. She would not let circumstance control her any more. She would go and do what was right, even if it meant her death. Dying for justice and lofty ideals no longer seemed so foolish to her, now that something similar was there before her. Do I have any regrets? she asked herself. She did, but her actions would remedy them. With a fatal thrust, Celia drove her own sword into her body, buckling underneath the immense pressure. She felt her insides ripping apart and turning to flame as the foreign metal devoured them, and her face became pale as the blood came out from its fleshly dam. She withdrew her sword so nothing could hold the flow, and fainted onto the crystal's surface, watching with dimmed vision as her own life melted away the magical barrier. "Be free," she whispered, curling her fingers across the deteriorating surface. Hrist Valkyrie watched the bittersweet spectacle with a sad, somber face, not daring to close her eyes to the noble deeds of this unique human. She smiled at Celia as the god of death approached, and thanked her a final time before the life was snuffed out. Celia had wanted to die smiling, though her body lost all strength not two minutes after her selfless act. She breathed her last and was gone, just as all the ice melted and the third Valkyrie was freed. Hrist carefully walked over to Silmeria, nearly ready to cry for the joy of her sister's release. She materialized out of her dark armor and scooped up the frozen Valkyrie in her arms, carefully caressing as life pulsed back into the blonde warrior. Silmeria stirred, so weak that she could barely move, and opened her eyes. "Hrist..." "Yes, it is I," she said. "I'm here for you, sister. I am here, and I am... happy." "Ah... Hri...st..." Silmeria closed her eyes again, and took in her first deep breath in ages as her body renewed itself from her sister's embrace. Hrist whispered something to her younger sister, and let her go as she approached Celia's body. She smiled lovingly at her greatest Einherjar, and touched her heart as she whispered for the woman's soul. Gently, it rose up from her body and entered into Hrist, where it remained for a time before being transferred to Valhalla. Hrist watched the soul ascend further, smiling brighter and brighter as the light of the dawn came back into the world. Is this what death feels like? Strange... It's as comfortable as I thought it would be. I wonder why so many people are afraid of it. There's nothing to fear. I actually feel more alive now than before. Maybe because... I feel no more pain or sorrow... "Hey! Celia! You're really here!" Celia opened her eyes, and for a moment she swore to possessing lifeblood again as something akin to a pulse leaped inside her. Before her was Asgard, gorgeous and green with life, and further on was the golden-white palace of Valhalla, taller and more majestic than her own imagination could bear. Yet these were mere decorations meant for brief observation compared to the living matter before her, the people that had waited for her patiently. Her heart, if the dead had them, fluttered wildly as she saw, in a single vision, all her friends and many more gathered before her. Without saying a word, Celia ran towards them and engulfed Kashell, Lawfer, and even Arngrim in a huge embrace. "Whoa!! Hey! I didn't expect you to do that, Celia!" "Oh my..." "Oh, brother..." The three men each expressed their happiness to see the redhead (in their own way), and tried to return her hug, though their greeting could not compare to the strength she had wielded when, after what seemed like ages trapped in the slough of despondency, she had been freed and placed eternally in the celestial city. Kashell grinned and twirled her around until she laughed out loud, something that Celia had only done a few times in life. Lawfer kissed both her cheeks and her hand, as a knight would, and Arngrim... "Yeah......" "Some conversationalist," muttered Celia with a smile. The gruff mercenary sniffed, shrugged, and walked away so closer friends could be with their lost lady. Celia actually squealed as her half-brother and close friend engaged her happily, but everything became silent when her gaze wandered from their happy faces to the more reserved, more patient smile of the Dragonian Aelia, who had stood aside content to watch. Kashell and Lawfer noticed where she was looking, and parted without a word. "Hi there," said Aelia, waving a little. "You look good. Did you have trouble finding the place?" "Yes," admitted Celia sheepishly. "I..." "There's no need to dwell on anything now," said Aelia softly. "You made it, and we're together again, just like we promised." Celia smiled and nodded, then ran over to Aelia and tackled her in a desperate hug. Tears came from her weary but joyful eyes as she squeezed the other woman with all her strength, refusing to let go until she knew for certain that everything around her was real. Aelia returned the love and kissed the other woman's cheek desperately. "I'm here," she whispered, so softly that only Celia heard it. "I'm here. We're all here. Welcome home." After reuniting with all the ones she thought were lost, as well as acquainting herself with a few gods and goddesses of Asgard, Celia walked off into a field of lilies with Aelia, their hands locked and their pace as calm as the blowing grass beneath them. Valhalla was more beautiful and heavenly than she thought it would be, certainly a place she would love to spend all of eternity dwelling. Yet even in the midst of gods, the presence of her beloved friends and dear Aelia made up almost all the heaven; she could've been burning in Musphelheim and would've been content were her friends there. The two redheads stopped temporarily in the white meadow to gaze out upon all of Asgard, and together squeezed the other's hand. "So," said Aelia in her usual wry voice, "now that you are dead, what would you like to do next? There really are no limits, and the war of Ragnarok has since been won, so really, you can amuse yourself to your heart's content. Tell me--what is it that you've most wanted to do?" Celia kept watch over Asgard for awhile as she thought, though it really didn't take long for her to come up with what she conceived as a guilty pleasure. She gently rubbed her bare thumb against Aelia's, and smiled shyly as she spoke. "Well... I have always wanted to fly." "That's not a problem," she shrugged. The Dragonian then pointed off into the distance, where a grove of peculiar-looking trees swayed in the heavenly breeze. "You see those trees? Those are special trees. They grow what is known as Orihalcum, a very rare metal that can grant its bearer the ability to fly. They're abundant in Asgard, and free for our use just so long as we keep sowing the seeds." "Seeds?" she parroted, plainly confused. "Trees that bear metal as fruit can have seeds?" Aelia laughed out loud, not meaning to insult her friend at all, and grinned. "Celia, this is Valhalla! As I said, anything is possible! Please, by all means, pick the fruit and use it to your liking!" "Well, all right... but..." Celia smiled shyly again, and gazed down at the evergreen road beneath her. Her face turned dark pink as she blushed. "I would really like it if you accompanied me. Also..." She closed her eyes and reached back, undoing the ribbons and pins that kept her hair up. Without restraint, the pale bloody strands fell freely, all the way down to her shoulder blades. Celia shook her head until every last strand was freed, and gave Aelia the most peaceful, happy, content smile she had. The Dragonian blushed. "Amazing. You don't do that very often. You should keep it that way... and... you have no need for that armor up here, either." Celia grinned, still blushing a little, and took Aelia's hand as the two walked from the lily field to the grove of Orihalcum trees. On the way, she whispered one last request to her friend, one that made even Aelia shriek in disbelief. Celia, it seemed, certainly had some strange fantasies... Hand in hand, the redheads Aelia and Celia flew over the world of Midgard, the wind fiercely whipping past as they plowed through the skies, nearly blind from the speed. To be able to fly was not something new to Aelia, though it had been the first time she flew as a human--or without a single article of clothing on. She had blushed furiously when Celia told her she wanted to fly in the nude, hand in hand with the woman she shared herself with, but the experience was all the more exhilarating because of it. Aelia and even Celia, who was usually so quiet, so shy and reserved into her world of thought, each let out shrieks and yawps as they dove, ascended, and twirled around in a frenzy over the world. It was good that they could fly over Midgard in their spirit form--otherwise, several people would've balked to see naked women hovering around like eagles. The thought that somebody could see them made their aerial joyride more exciting still, but the firm grasp they had on each other's palms was the greatest of all. "Oh!" exclaimed Celia, slowing down significantly as she passed over a mountain chain. Aelia became awed as well, for before them stood the mighty world tree, Yggdrasil, towering as an ageless juggernaut over all four worlds. Its roots in Nifelheim, its peak in Asgard, the world tree was surprisingly difficult to see unless one knew precisely where to look, and only if one had the right tools. Being dead, the two hovering women observed it in all its glorious appearance. "I've always wanted to..." "Stand naked on top of the World Tree?" suggested Aelia playfully. Celia smiled and nodded, and guided her friend over to the mighty sentinel. They reached the trunk in no time, having but the breeze as their only obstacle, and rose higher and higher up the tree, beyond the tallest mountain and even the very clouds of Midgard themselves. They broke through the barrier between mortal and divine, ending up back in Asgard to ascend directly onto the tree's very apex, wherein they landed and took rest. The entirety of all creation was splayed out before them, as mighty as it was the day all life had been born. From their perch, the very earth could be seen, and Midgard, for all the villainy that had lived there, looked as a shining jewel from atop the Great Encompassing One. Alfheim, land of elves, was closer to their eyes, and greater still for the purity it had; Nifelheim was invisible, and Asgard before them gave them grandest view. Indeed, the four worlds were all before or beneath them, and nothing save each others' presence could ever rival that view. Words were not needed to express it. Celia just smiled, then grinned in happiness, before the beautiful woman bared before her. She placed her hands atop Aelia's smooth shoulders, beaming with all the love and happiness she deserved to own, and leaned in to nuzzle her neck. Aelia took in a deep hiss, and tilted her head back as the beloved other rubbed with teasing grace. Celia's hands slowly descended down Aelia's unbound body, causing the other girl to shriek and submit, right there on the high branches of Yggdrasil. Unfortunately, their sylvan tryst broke the concentration of a certain irritable mage who had been hanging from the tree for some time. Her focus broken and her yellowy-orange hair askew, she snarled up at the two lovers and barked at them with all her aggravated might. "Hey, keep it down up there! Some of us are trying to obtain omniscience!"
Back to Distortions in the Void of Despair Index - Back to Valkyrie Profile Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction