55 Echoes of the past

Park, midnight.

"Tatsumi, what the hell?" Katase hissed as the boy stepped into the circle of light cast by the lantern. "What's this 'urgent matters concerning your past' about?"

"I agree," Muruyama stated, stifling a yawn.

"It's simple, my unenlightened friends. Today, I intend to ensure that aiding you is worthwhile, and you'll recall something from your past," Alduin replied with a smile on his face.

"How so?" Muruyama inquired.

"I'm gathering a party, and we're heading to a dungeon," Alduin explained, looking over the girls' heads,

'I hope this venture with the ancient ruins pays off and they haven't been completely looted since they were abandoned. I've come to this, huh? Reading the Elder Scroll to find the locations of the ancient cities of the Ayleids and Nords,' Alduin thought, shaking his head.

"Seems like someone's been playing too many games," Muruyama commented, eyeing the boy with a hint of irony.

"No. And here, by the way, are our fighters," Alduin said, gesturing towards two guys in red and purple tracksuits, a Chinese woman in a qipao, a brunette in a dark blue dress, a blonde in jeans and a black t-shirt with a skull and the inscription "There is no God" and another blonde in shorts and a red t-shirt, carrying a strange elongated bundle and a bulky bag.

"Tatsumi-sama," Vinturut greeted Alduin.

"So, Muruyama, Katase, meet Oga, Matthias, Walburga, Margaret, Xuelan, and Morgana," Alduin introduced his group to the reincarnations of Lucifer and Helel, "Morgana, did you bring it?"

"Yes," the blonde in shorts, with her hair tied in a high ponytail, responded. As she unwrapped the bundle, she handed Muruyama and Katase each a jet-black curved sword, "Just as you requested—the simplest and most lethal. I tried to match the armor to your descriptions. It might not fit perfectly, though. For that, I would need a forge."

"Tatsumi?" Katase asked uncertainly, taking the sword in her hands.

""We're going to Delphi," Alduin answered the unasked question. "If my suspicions are correct, there are still a couple of very interesting gems there that you, Walburga, might need for a task similar to Margaret's."

"I understand, Tatsumi-sama," Walburga nodded knowingly.

"What stones are we talking about?" Katase asked. "And what do they have to do with ancient Greek ruins?"

"Once, one of the centers of Greco-Roman mythological military power, the abode of Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, was located in these ruins," Muruyama snorted, "So, these are not mere ruins."

"No surprise there, as this city stands right above the ancient Ayleid ruins," added Alduin. "Walburga, we need to get to the basement of the main temple. Can you take us there?"

"Of course, Tatsumi-sama," she replied, beginning to cast a teleportation spell.

"Now, listen carefully. Once we arrive in the temple, we act quickly and decisively. Do not stop, follow me and only me. Do not get distracted by any guards, kittens, or hamsters."

"Understood," the Dovas replied in unison, somewhat startling Muruyama and Katase.

"Ready, Tatsumi-sama."

"Muruyama, Katase, are you ready?"

"Yes," the two girls nodded uncertainly.

"Proceed, Walburga," Alduin commanded, and the world around the group of young people changed, replacing the midnight park with dimly lit ruins, through the holes in the ceiling of which rare rays of sunlight penetrated. "Let's not dally," Alduin commanded, navigating by memory the path shown to him by the Elder Scroll.

Moving with stealth, the group relied on the silence and invisibility spells cast by Morgana as they made their way to the altar. It was located in a crypt secured by an array of protective magic, now unlocked thanks to Nocturnal's Skeleton Key. Yet Alduin's attention wasn't on the altar itself but on the wall behind, adorned with intricate azure tiles.

"It's rather gloomy here," Muruyama commented, surveying the room made of white marble blocks that faintly glowed with a silver light. "The architecture is definitely not from those incest-loving, partying Olympians."

"Incest-loving?" Morgana asked, eyeing Alduin, who was thoughtfully examining the azure tiles, a stark contrast to the vertical marble blocks.

"Just look at Zeus. A product of incest between a brother and sister, he slept with half of his sisters and jumped on anything with even a semblance of breasts. And let's not forget, he's the pioneer of zoophilia, golden showers, and BDSM, no matter what they say about Azazel, Helel, and Lucifer," Katase explained, not specifying that she and Muruyama were Lucifer and Helel. "The stories about Zeus transforming into a bull to abduct Europa or impregnating Danaë in the form of a golden shower - did you think they were just made up?"

"You seem to know an awful lot about this," Odahviing remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Found it," exclaimed Alduin, stepping back from the wall, which began to lower, revealing an arch with a black door adorned with a silver tree. As soon as he touched the door, it slid open, revealing a spiral staircase illuminated by dim blue light, descending below. "Let's go, great deeds await us. Walburga, there should be a platform down there; conjure something for lighting. Morgana, hand out the armor to the girls; they'll need it."

"My lord," Odahviing murmured as the two female kendoists struggled to put on pieces of armor once worn by the Stormcloak Brothers, "What use we have for these mortal women?"

"And what are we doing in Elven ruins?" added Morgana, while the Dovas clustered around Alduin nodded in agreement.

"Let's take this one step at a time. These two," Alduin nodded towards the kendoist girls, pressing a button on the wall, causing the wall through which he had led his group to close, "are the firstborn of Stendarr and Meridia, and are in the same state as we all were a few months ago. We are few, and we cannot afford to waste such promising individuals. This expedition into the dungeon is their chance to prove their worth as Dragon Priestesses and regain some of the power they once had."

"Do you think they will agree, my lord?" asked Midgarstrun.

"They won't have a choice," Alduin smirked. "Now, regarding the Dovahkiin. First, these ruins contain valuable Ayleid artifacts - Welkynd Stones and Varla Stones, which are practically crystallized magic. They are needed for creating atronachs and will be useful for my other plans. Secondly, consider this expedition your test, where you must demonstrate your ability to control your power and use precision spells," he finished, then looked at the two girls and said louder, "Morgana, help them get dressed; otherwise, we won't be ready in three hours."

"Argh. Hasn't anyone taught you how to put on chainmail?" Morgana hissed, approaching Muruyama and Katase.

"Sorry, not all of us are enthusiasts of historical recreations," Muruyama shot back.

"Welcome to Nornal," Alduin announced after ten minutes of preparation, opening a door woven from iron branches, beyond which lay a dimly lit corridor with a bright light at the end. "Be vigilant. The elves were quite the bastards, and I wouldn't be surprised if all their traps are still active, even after all this time."

"We might encounter various skeletons, ghosts, and zombies here," added Morgana, her hands now wielding a silver sword with dark red inlays. Muruyama, seeing the sword, smiled knowingly and gripped her ebony swords even tighter.

"Muruyama, Katase, almost everyone here is a mages, so try not to get hit. Those who can get closer are your clients. If you see anything strange on the floor or walls, report it immediately. Now, forward."

Their passage through the corridor was relatively calm, but in the first hall, Alduin practiced his scolding skills, reprimanding Odahviing, who had struck an ancient Ayleid trap with a fireball, prompting it to retaliate with a blast of cold air.

After reinforcing his words with a solid smack to the back of Odahviing's head, Alduin led his group further. Room after room, they explored the ancient Ayleid ruins, encountering various undead and the traps of the long-gone elves, which were still operational.

The Dovas' success in taming their destructive nature brought a genuine smile to Alduin's face. Yes, they had their flaws, but with the dragon level strength of Krahnahkriin or Kreinzulfen, not to mention Vinturut and Odahviing, it was forgivable. Muruyama and Katase also proved themselves, despite their surprised and indignant screams at the beginning of the journey. However, with each room they inspected, changes in the girls' actions were noticed, initially imperceptible to the naked eye. Muruyama stopped paying attention to the weight and unfamiliar form of the blades, and her actions revealed an almost inhuman grace, while Katase's movements indicated she was more accustomed to wielding something much longer.

"Wow!" Muruyama, Morgana, and Katase exclaimed in awe as the procession entered a massive hall with high columns and arched vaults, the tops of which were lost in height, from where forged baskets, more like chalice-shaped cages containing glowing blue stones, were suspended on chains.

In the center of the hall was a platform, reached by a path of perfectly even white marble slabs, intricately carved with an endless array of interwoven azure branches. Along this path, like guards, stood stone pedestals, into which quadrangular stands made of strange metal were set. This metal, under the bright blue light of the stones in the baskets, emitted a faint greenish glow, and on the stands rested...

"These are..." Morgana swallowed her words, looking at a turquoise stone of oval shape, the lower part of which was encased in an elegant forged cup made of metal.

"Welkynd Stones," Alduin answered, approaching one of the pedestals and removing the stone. "Let's move on, we should collect them."

The procession slowly advanced toward the platform, which became clearer and taller with each step. As they moved from one pedestal to another, removing the stones and placing them in Morgana's bag, the closer they got to their goal, the more uncertain Muruyama's and Katase's steps became.

"Traitor! Betrayer!" a voice screamed in Katase's head, and for a moment, she felt as though she was being strangled by a tall, powerful old man. His strong hands tightly gripped her neck, ignoring her attempts to loosen the hold. Then the old man removed one hand from her throat, and just as she thought the ordeal was over, excruciating pain pierced her body. In the old man's hand, which had just been on her neck, were three massive wings resembling those of a raven.

"Beseech that your dishonor be purged by crimson's color," the old man said with a booming voice, methodically tearing out the remaining nine wings from her back. Overwhelmed by the pain, Katase staggered and shook her head, trying to dispel the memories.

"Are you alright?" Alduin asked, letting the Dovas go ahead and aligning himself with the girl.

"Yes, I'm fine," Katase shook her head, "Just remembered something... unpleasant."

At the same time, Muruyama was also reliving events from her past life, but even though they were less bloody, they were filled with the bitterness of betrayal.

In front of her stood three magnificent beings, two men and one woman, each with six pairs of wings, once pure white but now dirty gray.

Slightly behind them stood 72 winged beings, slightly less beautiful than the first three but possessing between three and five pairs of wings each. And behind them was an entire army of angel-like beings with dirty-gray wings, all looking at her with a gaze that showed readiness to follow her to the end.

"We are betrayed by our father, forgotten by our brothers. Even if we shall never see the gates of the Heaven again, we will not break our oaths and will continue to protect humanity here, guarding it against vile devils!" Muruyama declared confidently, raising a silver sword similar to the one Morgana now carried into the purple sky of the Underworld.

But the next memory made the girl fall to her knees and groan, clutching her head, for this memory was filled with blood and suffering. Once again, she watched her most loyal friends die, slain by the one who was her father.

"Your Legion, with deceit and lies of devils, poisoned from within.

Betrayal has been done, and the first victim was your sin!

The trust you placed in fallen friends, misguided from the start,

Has led you to this fateful end, with broken wings and heart." the old man in a bloodstained robe proclaimed, piercing Muruyama's chest with a beautiful silver sword.

Screaming in pain, she fell onto the blood-soaked ground, glaring with hatred at the one she considered her father and creator. Clenching her swords, Clarent and Gram, tighter, she gathered all her strength for one last strike.

"With oaths and friends now cast aside, A final vow, I shall confide," she hissed in her memory, breaking the sword in her father's hands into seven parts with a strike from Clarent, "As fratricidal war will sprawl, On Camlann's fields, the world shall learn, In flames and ashes, it will burn!"

Exhausting her last words, Muruyama struck the old man diagonally with Gram with such force, that it nearly bisected him in half, but at that moment, her strength left her, and she sank into the embrace of eternal darkness.

"Hey, wake up!" Morgana shook the unconscious Muruyama. The sound of a body falling onto the marble floor nearby distracted her from trying to revive the girl. "Damn, this one too. And we were just a couple of steps from the end."

"Leave them; they're undergoing transformation," Alduin said, placing his hand on Morgana's shoulder. "And prepare yourselves; it's about to get hot!"

In affirmation of the words of the Firstborn of Akatosh, from the walls of the hall came the creak of descending marble slabs, revealing hidden doors within the walls, and the approaching crunch of bones and the squelching sounds of semi-decomposed flesh became audible.

"Destroy all that must lie in the earth and rot," commanded Alduin to his Dov, bending over each unconscious girl, and whispering, "Mid Hah Ul" (in Dovahzul, "Forever faithful mind").

In the hall, lightning began to flash, and explosions of fireballs erupted, ice flickered, and several times, clumps of blood-red energy tore through the hall from Morgana's Clarent, but the marble of the ancient Ayleid city honorably withstood the force of the no longer restrained dragons. However, as soon as they had a taste of action, Alduin ordered them to halt and pointed towards the girls. Muruyama and Katase were covered in an opaque white aura, from the changing contours of which one could guess that their bodies were beginning to change. Gone were the two students of Kuoh Academy, and in their place, on the marble slabs, two beautiful girls who resembled each other as closely as two drops of water, began to awaken. Their only difference being their hair color. The Stormcloak armor, which had hung loosely on them before, now fitted perfectly and no longer caused Morgana bursts of laughter.

"Good morning, Lucy, Hel," smirked Alduin, looking into two pairs of identical blue eyes, "How did you sleep?"

"Tatsumi? I don't know how you did this, but thank you. I'm forever in your debt," said the one who was once Muruyama, sitting up and tossing her golden hair back.

"This is… astonishing," repeated her twin, Katase, tying her black hair into a ponytail and examining her hands.

"Now that you're awake, we have one problem," hinted Alduin, signaling the Dovas to not touch the approaching horde of undead but to merely hold a shield against the liches' spells.

"Ah? Hold on, now," said Muruyama, looking around, visibly struggling to stand up and trying to keep her balance.

"It'll take some getting used to," chuckled Katase, who was experiencing similar problems.

"From now on, you are in my service until the end of days, for I have transformed you into painted beauties." said Alduin, approaching a well over which hovered a large white elongated crystal.

"Who would have doubted," Muruyama whispered, nodding to her sister.

"We were born to slay gods," Muruyama and Katase shouted in unison, raising their right hands. And the air above their heads lit up with a golden light, emanating from hundreds of spears, which eagerly aimed at the undead army. Simultaneously lowering their hands, the girls unleashed a deathly rain of spears, forged from divine light, onto the unrested dead.

"Indeed, children of Stendarr and Meridia," whistled Odahviing, watching as the undead army melted under the rain of light, "In these spears, one can feel Stendarr's hatred for the daedra and Meridia's for the undead."

"I had no doubt," Alduin proudly stated, "And you, Oga?"

"Guilty, my lord," confessed Odahviing. "It won't happen again"

"Do not give me reason to doubt the truth of your Words, Odahviing," Alduin hissed at the sole Red Dragon, then turned to Muruyama and Katase, who had virtually erased the undead army from existence.

"Now, Lucy, Hel, follow me." Alduin turned and beckoned the former angels with his finger.

Ignoring the astonished faces of Walburga, Morgana, Xuelan, and Margaret, Alduin opened a portal to Sovngarde and with a nod indicated to follow trhough.

Into the dungeon of Nornal entered ordinary Japanese schoolgirls, Muruyama and Katase. Through Alduin's portal to Sovngarde stepped the reborn Lucifer and Helel, and by the time the clocks in Tokyo showed five in the morning, Dragon Priestesses Otar and Nahkriin had returned to Nirn in the guise of Kuoh's Academy students Kaori Muruyama and Shiina Katase, but only seven beings knew of it.

None of the devils or fallen angels could have guessed that their former leaders had come back to life, nor did Michael, the younger brother of Lucifer and Helel, ruling in God's stead over the Heavens, suspect this.