Inescapable 03

I can’t begin to tell you how it felt to stand there, helpless to prevent the wiping out of my einherjar. That loss extended to my lover Lucian, and my sisters Hrist and Silmeria. All gone in an instant, faster than I could blink my eyes closed. Tears came to my eyes, but there was no time to let loose with them. Shocked and as grief stricken as I was, I was still battling the press of this other reality. A reality that had grown stronger with the apparent destruction of the time machine.

Voice still screaming in protest, I forced myself to move. To turn away from the ever expanding ring of light. It would continue to move, to reach past this room, to creep into every corner of the world. All in an effort to overpower my reality with a new one. That the light hadn’t exploded outwards in an instant was only thanks to my attempts at suppression. An attempt that was greatly draining me of my strength.

Battling exhaustion and grief, I turned to assess the damage. And there I saw it, Gungnir stabbed deep into the center of the time machine. The device was shattering, cracks appearing all over it. The divine lance thrummed with power. I had a moment to wonder where the sacred treasure had come from. It had been among the first of the four treasures to go missing when this other reality began sending it’s temporal distortions across the nine realms.

But there was little time to linger on the hows and whys of Gungnir’s reappearance. The realities were struggling, this other timeline trying to uproot my world. It left me staggered, near suffocated as I stepped towards the time machine. My head was pounding, throbbing with every breath as I fought to keep from losing grip on my reality. It was a draining experience, my reserves of power extinguishing rapidly. Would I collapse before I could enact change? I did not know. Nor did I know if the time machine was in a salvageable state.

Power leaked out of the cracks in the device. If I hadn’t been Lord Creator, even I would have withered and died from the power ghosting along my skin. I made my painstakingly slow way to the time machine, hand extended towards Gungnir’s hilt. I prayed for the strength needed to fight this, prayed that the time machine wasn’t damage irrevocably.

Before my fingers could close around Gungnir’s center, it was wrenched away from me. A powerful new force had entered the area around the time machine. The winds seemed to pick up in speed, and the air grew stifling, nearly choking me with every breath. My vision grew dark, I was seeing shadows where none should exist. My shoulders sagged, my posture hardly ideal for attack. It was even worse for a defensive stance, my guard completely open.

Power would slam into me, knocking me back a full foot from the time machine. I managed not to fall over, though my one knee nearly touched the ground as I struggled to remain upright. It was then that I heard the laughter. Elated, triumphant, smug. All those emotions conveyed in one mocking tone, it made my teeth grind together.

I thought I recognized the voice behind the laughter. My eyes did the slightest of widening, disbelief the chief emotion in them. Memories were coming to me, of a man, a mortal so insane he thought it his right to love a Goddess. His sins flashed before me, memories playing out. I remembered then my first encounter with this mad man, the love sick fool murdering a couple on the roof of his home. All in order to lure me to him. I remembered the vessels he had made, the countless elves and humans he had killed to craft a container for my soul. I had destroyed nearly all of those, and it was fate’s own version of a mockery that the one I had left intact was the body I now inhabited.

One act of goodness couldn’t possibly outweigh the wrongs he had committed. Lorenta wasn’t the only einherjar that had come to me as part of his manipulations. Mystina too had died at his hand. How many more had died that I never learned of? How many sins blackened his soul?

As quickly as I thought that, I was drawing my sword. My action wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked, my arm moving slow as though through molasses. “Show yourself!” I screamed in demand. It appeared my demand was all he had been waiting for, the laughter racketing up a notch as gold lights began to spark in front of me. I reacted with pure instinct, slashing my sword through the light.

It would waver and distort a moment, and then a person would come into existence. A man. One with a rich color of brown for his hair, and blazing amethyst jewels for his eyes. Those eyes seemed to seethe with heat, staring boldly at me as he came into view. Gungnir was clenched in his right fist, his left arm sweeping out as he dropped into an exaggerated bow.

“A greetings to you, Lenneth Valkyrie.” He smiled at me. I did not return the expression. Instead I hissed out a name, my fingers clenching tighter on my sword’s hilt.

“Lezard Valeth!”

He straightened, expression one of pure delight as he gazed at me. “Ah, you remember me. How flattering.”

I had meant no such thing, scowling back at him. He was an infidel, a defiler of souls. A law breaker, and now a reality ruiner. He had somehow escaped the destruction that had ravaged Asgard and Midgard during Loki’s attempts to bring about Ragnarok. It was an escape that left him the only mortal to survive, the only mortal to be free of my influence. He was a dangerous and unpredictable element in the world I had recreated, and I cursed myself then for not taking the measures needed to contain him.

“What have you done?” I cried out aloud. Was it him I asked that question, or did I ask it of myself? Either way, it was Lezard who offered an answer. It wasn’t one to my liking, my scowl deepening.

“I’ve merely taken the steps needed to gain everything I could ever want.” His eyes were intent on me, his lips curled in an odd twist of a smile.

“For such a selfish reason, you’ve violated time, distorted our reality!?” I demanded, my sword arm seeming to shake with my anger. “You’ve nearly succeeded in ruining our world. Even now, it is on the verge of disappearing, replaced with what I do not know. Nor do I want to find out!”

“It is not selfish to want love.” He countered. My eyes narrowed at that. “To strive for it, to reach for and do everything in your power to claim it.”

“I don’t know what it is you feel, but it is not love!” I retorted. The two realities continued their war within me, my power trying to quell this new one’s eager thrust for dominance. I fought not to show that struggle on my face, glaring at him.

He frowned in turn. “Do you presume to know what is in my heart?” Lezard tsked then. “Lenneth Valkyrie…how little you truly know of the beatings of a man’s heart.”

“Is it love to destroy reality as we know it?” I demanded. “Is it love to twist time to your demands, to kill indiscriminately in order to possess a single being?” I made a scoffing sound then, my own voice mocking. “You know nothing of love. Just highhanded acts and force.”

“You fail to appreciate my acts of love.” He retorted. He hadn’t lost his smile. “The lengths I have gone to, all in order to win you for myself.”

“I am no prize to be taken!” I shouted, and this time I moved, sword slashing at his middle. He wavered and distorted, gold sparkles appearing where my sword cut. I couldn’t help but widen my eyes in shock, gaping at him as his body seamlessly became whole once more. “What manner of trickery is this?!” I demanded, not yet understanding what I was up against.

Again that laughter, excitement at the heart of it. That excitement reflected in his eyes as he looked at me, Lezard near gloating. “Can you not guess, Goddess?” He asked of me. “Can you not feel what I have become?”

I should have known in an instant just what had been wrought here. But I was struggling to hang onto my world. It left my senses dulled, kept me blind to the power emanating from him. I lashed out with my sword again, wanting him dead so that I could focus all my attention on the damaged time machine. But like before, my sword passed through him, gold sparkles mending what should have been a mortal blow.

He didn’t laugh this time. Instead he sighed, tsking over my inability to understand what it was I was facing. My sword moved again, this time I tried to take his head. Instantly, Gungnir was brought to block my blade. The two weapons ground against each other, metals flashing with sparks.

“I did not come here to fight you, Lenneth Valkyrie.” Lezard told me. Every time Gungir moved, it was with effortless ease. I couldn’t help but marvel at how he handled the divine lance, blocking my sword’s every thrust.

“A fight is all you will get!” I retorted, trying not to pant. The power I was expending to save the reality was draining me in other ways. It was all I could do to wield my sword. I feared the strain was apparent even to him, the smile back on his face. And yet he made no move towards me, only ever defending against my attacks. He was toying with me, content to let me expend my energy on a pointless endeavor.

I was as angry as I was impatient. I wanted him to be gone, to be out of my way so I could explore the time machine in peace. I needed to see if it was repairable, and if I could still follow time’s threads back to when Dipan still flourished. I was desperate to see if I could unravel the tangles he had made of the time line. I wanted to save this reality. I wanted my einherjar returned to me. I wanted Lucian well and alive. The chance existed that I could save all if I could access the device’s time powers.

But Lezard was proving quite able at defending himself against my attacks. It was infuriating that this worm of a human could stand toe to toe with a Goddess. With the Lord Creator of the realms. And yet he was holding his own, not even winded while I suffered. The other reality manifested as pounding in my head, screaming it’s demands. It wanted me to stop fighting, to give in and let it take over my world. I refused to make it easy for it, fighting with nearly all my attention used towards the suppression of this other reality.

It was safe to say I feared this other reality. I had seen just a taste of it’s power, seen what the Shining Realm was reduced to under it’s influence. I didn’t want a world where the Gods were dead, where this insane mortal’s desires came to fruition. I fought and I struggled, and knew it wasn’t going to be enough. This new reality would have it’s way, and would take me down, kicking and screaming.

And yet I gamely held on, clinging to the last remnants of my world. Actual sweat beaded on the sides of my face. It was proof of how much I was exerting myself. For all of Lezard’s pleasure, his gaze turned concerned. He hopped back a few steps out of my sword’s reach, all to better study me as I advanced towards him.

“You are looking ill Goddess.”

“Spare me your false concern!” I snarled at him, teeth bared. Something was going to give, one way or another. I feared it was me, my body breaking, my mind torn apart as the reality crushed me under it’s foot.

“I speak with the truth of one who loves you.” I screamed in retort to that, trying to drown out his words even as I ran the last foot to him. He was no longer laughing, looking increasingly worried over my weakened state. He wasn’t the only one, I worried for myself. Just as I worried for the world that would be lost should I buckle any further.

“Lenneth Valkyrie, stop this.” His tone was commanding, Lezard bringing Gungnir to clash against my sword. I was pushed back several steps by his defending blow, and quicker than I could breathe out a protest his free hand was touching my cheek. The soft leather of his glove was warm against my skin, the knave actually had the nerve to caress my cheek with his fingers.

I screeched in outrage, lashing out with my sword. He nearly toppled over backwards to avoid it, then righted himself. The very fingers that had touched my cheek now pushed up his glasses. Concerned amethyst look at me, Lezard shaking his head no. “You only hurt yourself.”

It grated to hear him say that. And all because it was the truth. And yet what else could I do? An entire world’s existence was on my shoulders. Nine realms of people depending on me to set things right. I even hoped that if this other reality could be averted, those who had been lost would return, whole once more. I viewed Lezard as an obstacle against setting things right. He needed to be eliminated. It did not matter if it was now or it was later, so long as he was gone.

My eyes shifted towards the time machine. It was still leaking power at an alarming rate. I thought to myself if I could only get near enough to use it. To tap into it’s power and travel to the time before everything went to Hel. But Lezard read the intent on my face, moving at the same instant I did.

“Not so fast!” He cried out, thrusting Gungnir into another part of the time machine. I cried out in pain, feeling the strain within me grow heavier yet. It seemed with each piece of the time machine destroyed, the stronger the reality he was trying to force onto my world grew. What would happen if he succeeded in breaking apart the device completely? Would I even be able to survive the ensuing surge of power?

“Stop!” I cried out. I meant to be commanding. It came out more desperate plea than anything. He didn’t react to my voice, breaking another part of the machine, leaving me staggered. My left hand clutched at my breast plate, heart beating ever so fast beneath it. This struggle might prove to be the death of me yet, but I was determined to bring Lezard down as well.

My sword stabbed forward. I thought he was open to the attack with Gungnir otherwise engaged. At the last possible second he turned, my sword passing harmlessly through the space he had occupied just a moment ago. He continued his attack on the time device, a crystal in the center shattering. I bit back a scream, the other reality’s weight brining me down to one knee.

“You…” I could barely speak, gasping for air. My world was hanging on by a sliver thin thread. It wouldn’t take much to sever it. He knew it too, looking towards me with the strangest smile. But victory gleamed in his eyes. Lezard lifted Gungnir high over his head, my lips urgently parting to protest what he was about to do. If I spoke the words they were lost to the roar in my head, the other reality like the oncoming tide of the ocean’s currents.

When Gungnir stabbed into the final remain of the time machine, my other leg gave out. I ended up sprawled on the floor, writhing in pain. I could not hear, could not see, at least not of what was happening around me. My senses were full of the internal struggle within me. The other reality was coming, and if I continued to fight against it, I would die just as surely as Lucian and my sisters had.

There was only one option left to me. Though my heart was heavy with protest, I let loose my beloved world. And as soon as I did, a great pressure was lifted from me. The light which distorted everything it touched? It had been creeping outwards slowly, in an ever expanding circle. Without my struggle to delay it, it exploded outwards in an instant, transforming all of the nine realms.

This new reality settled in on the world, people changing, people dying. Whole histories rewritten. It left the people of the nine realms confused. They weren’t sure what they had been doing when the change came on them, and indeed most if not all did not even realize they had been transformed. The new reality was forcing it’s timeline on the realms, everything changing in an instant.

Nearly everything. I still retained my powers. And though I grieved inside for the loss of my world, I also felt a new kind of calm settle within me. There was peace inside my head, the pounding headaches gone. I had been struggling for days with the temporal distortions, exhausting myself to the point of collapse. Now I felt renewed, almost energized.

I would put that energy to good use, my eyes snapping open an instant before Lezard could touch me. I saw his hand hesitate, the man bent down on one knee besides me. Again that concerned look as if he actually cared if I was hurt or not. I thought to myself that he should be concerned with himself for a tigress had been unleashed.

My hand grabbed hold of his, that offending appendage being thrust back. Such was the force of my push that Lezard actually lost his balance. I kicked out with my legs, snapping upright at the same time as he. My sword was lost, and I did not dare take my eyes off him to look for it. My mind rallied insults, accusations demanding to be voice. World destroyer, time manipulator, fiend of the foulest kind.

I settled for something supremely simple, one word that seemed to convey well all that he had done. “Murderer!” He didn’t try to deny it, beckoning me closer in invitation. I took him up on it, charging towards him with my hands clenched into fists. My first punch would catch him on the right cheek, his head turning to the side. There was force in my punch, my knuckles encased in my metal gauntlets.

Another punch would land, an uppercut on his chin. I felt satisfied to hear bone crunch, even as I wondered why he didn’t try to defend himself better. I began to beat him, growing blinded with my rage, my need to kill the source of all my recent troubles. When he fell over, I grew cocky, confidant I would be able to kill him with my bare hands. After all, I was a Creator unleashed, none of my powers diverted in this moment.

I was overconfident, not realizing the trap I was walking myself in. He was letting me tire myself out, letting me exert all my anger and strength in beating him. I didn’t know his own powers were healing every punch landed near instantaneously. I was acting the fool, no longer cautious but giving in to blind emotion. If I had stopped to think even for a second, I might have realized what it was he had become.

But he was suppressing his power. There was none of that tell tale glow about him, his energy reading as nothing more than a man. How was I to know I was facing a newly made God? One whose power had surpassed even Lord Odin’s?

He was a danger. To the world, and more importantly to me. I’d continue to attack him, seeing what I wanted to see. That of some weakling whose lust had led him to ruin all I had held dear. I would end up on my knees besides him, panting in exertion from the effect of pummeling him over and over. How long the beating had gone on for, I could not say. But I thought him dead, or close to it. After all, he laid so still, eyes close behind the broken panes of his glasses.

One last shuddery gasp for air, and then I was rising. I was intent on finding my sword, ready to carve out his blackened heart. It was as much a mistake to turn my back on him as it was to believe I had incapacitated him. He struck from behind, arms winding around my body. Lezard dared to press a kiss at the crook of my shoulder, just between my armor’s shoulder pads and the thick leather of my dress’ high collar. It burned as though he had touched my skin directly, and I shrieked indignantly.

His laughter filled the room, his arms like a vise around me. I struggled all the same, actually rocking back in an attempt to drive my head into his face. Lezard grunted, but his arms did not loosen their hold around me. I growled under my breath, and tried to stamp my booted feet on top of his. He wore leather, but my grieves were made from metal. They hurt him, his curse reverberating through the room as I escaped his hold. It would be a brief escape, the man pursuing me.

I’m not sure what expression I wore as he advanced. Whatever it was, it excited him, his eyes flashing darker with a wild look. I couldn’t understand how he was still standing, why my attacks hadn’t rendered him immobile. “Just what are you?!” I cried out in fear.

He didn’t stop, though he did smirk. “I am God.” He said simply, and as if in proof, ether swirled around him from head to toe. And where it touched, the injuries I had inflicted on him healed over, the blood being cleaned away. Even his glasses were repaired, his clothing no longer wrinkled. I could only gape and gasp, shocked horror on my face now.

And yet I still retained enough sense to back away from him, not liking the excited expression he wore. The look in his eyes made me feel defenseless, as though I had been stripped of my armor and the dress beneath it. My fingers curled and uncurled, I was preparing to throw another fist should he come too close. I didn’t think it would stop him, but I had to try.

This time my fist connected with the palm of his hand, Lezard stopping me mid punch. Before I could pull my hand back, he locked his fingers around it, jerking me towards him. My left hand flew, my intent to strike him with it. I had been reduced to a mere slap, and even that he stopped. His hand gripped mine cruelly, Lezard twisting my arms behind my back. I was left arching up against him, trying to avoid him as he leaned into my face.

“Lenneth Valkyrie…” His breath caressed over my lips, warm but hardly inviting. I did not want him to kiss me, did not want things to escalate any further. But his eyes had a lustful gleam to them, he was staring dreamily at me, intent on my lips. “How long I have waited…”

“Don’t you dare…” I began, and then he sealed out lips together. Of course I struggled, trying to get my arms free of the painful position he held them in. But more than that, I wanted my mouth free. Free to voice the scream that was building in me. Free of the feel of his lips pressing insistently on mine. When he pushed for entrance inside, I gave it to him, my own intent vicious.

With a cry, he’d jerk back from my kiss. I’d smile at him, lips surely as bloodied as his. I had bitten him, my intent to maim if possible. I thought it a pity he had pulled back before I could do much damage.

But he didn’t grow incensed, didn’t so much as raise a hand to me. That left me puzzled, even as he let go of one of my arms so that he could finger the blood on his lip. He smiled at me as he did so, and a shiver went down my spine. He truly wasn’t all there if he could maintain that expression after the injury I had inflicted on him.

“My Lenneth Valkyrie…” He was actually licking up the blood, pausing as though savoring the taste of it. “As spirited as I imagined.” Something told me Lezard would enjoy breaking my spirit, that he would relish any fight I gave him. But what else could I do? I would not go meekly into this. And yet I screamed as he dragged me to the floor, his weight pinning me in place as he hauled my arms up over my head.

He wouldn’t try for my lips again, though on occasion he stared at them longingly. But then he would sigh and shake his head no, and focus his attentions elsewhere. I could only scream and flail about ineffectually, hardly believing this was happening to me. It burned that I had failed everyone, that I had allowed another reality to take over ours. But to suffer Lezard’s affections on top of my defeat? It was unbearable. And yet I couldn’t weep, would not give him the satisfaction of my tears. Even as he forced my legs to part, his fingers delving into the flesh between them, I was vowing revenge. I just didn’t know what form it would take, or if revenge was even possible for me any more.