Gehenna approached from afar, her luminous violet eyes flashing eerily. She wore a white dress, a simple one like Morrigan's own. The only real difference was that Gehenna's were riddled with small cuts and was stained with blood. Most of it was not her own, but the blood of the ones she just finished killing.

Morrigan was a bit shocked in her heart though.

Those cuts meant Gehenna actually recieved injuries, however small.

How many people had the strength to fight Gehenna? Morrigan only knew a dozen or so and even then they would be hard-pressed in a fight against her. Even if they won against her, they would at least be seriously injured. None of them ever fought her in a life and death battle though as they were too disturbed by Gehenna to want to keep her company long enough for a battle such as that.

Yet despite that, the tears of fabric didnt show any sign of injury on her flesh. Why?

She must not have been in the fight too long ago or else the dress would be repaired or replaced already.

Gehanna was accompanied by a large black sword with azure veins running along it's length. It was so large, in fact, that it was the size of a full-grown man.

It hovered beside Gehenna and looked extremely majestic and tyrannical, releasing a powerful aura of sharpness and almost warping its surroundings. Not only that, it was wrapped in bright red chains that almost seemed to feed off its energy.

If it was so powerful while under its suppression, how strong would it be once they came off?

Morrigan surprisingly didnt feel any sense of danger from it. Instead she was filled with something like nostalgia.

How curious. . .

Gehenna released a frightening aura that gave Morrigan a chill. Gehenna was always unhinged and Morrigan always had seen a hollowness in her eyes that was was void of feeling.

Now, though, her amethyst-colored eyes didnt hold the same lack of emotion. Now they contained something that was arguably darker. It was a certain. . . Twistedness. A perversion of what a person was supposed to be.

Gehenna had always been a great actor and normal people wouldnt be able to tell the difference between the false emotion and real ones. But Morrigan and those who saw her more often, like the higher ranking gods and demons, knew her too well, knew that wickedness that lay beneath. They wouldnt be fooled. They understood what Gehenna was, even if not what made her that way. Many assumed she was like that from birth, even.

Gehenna didnt feel. She didnt think. She merely was. She was not a person, she was a force of nature that caused death and sorrow wherever she went and she was isolated by everyone because of it.

Why, then, did she seem so broken when there should not be anything to break in the first place?

It made Morrigan even more wary than the Gehenna of before. Now she felt true fear in her heart looking at the thing in front of her.

Gehenna smiled kindly, the expression looking disturbing and wrong on her beautiful face.

"Morrigan, my dear old friend, how can you leave so soon without even a saying hello? Im hurt. Could you be avoiding me? I know you must have seen me. Surely you didnt think that I would let you go without settling the score between us." She walked closer with each word until she stood only a few feet away from them.

The woman looked behind Morrigan's body. " Oh? And who is this little thing you have there? Ara, what a striking resemblance you two share! Dont tell me, a clone? Homunculus?"

"Who she is should be no concern of yours." Morrigan replied cooly, her voice not betraying anything.

" Well, well. It appears you dont want me to meet her. I wonder, perhaps you feel a bit of concern for the thing?" Gehenna asked, laughing.

"Mommy. . ." Grace grabbed her mother's shoulder, her eyes staring at the new woman with a look of terror. Her little arms quivered and the white fox's fur stood on end as well.

Grace's legs trembled upon seeing the woman, feeling fear spring up from a place that she didnt know the origin of.

Morrigan ignored her and shielded her daughter from further view.

A faint hint surprise and amusement flickered across Gehenna's face.

" So protective of the little doll. How quaint. I wonder, what would you do if I cut her up a bit? Would you care for her once I leave a few scars on that pretty face of hers?"

Her body flickered.

Time slowed to a crawl as Morrigan witnessed Gehenna come at Grace with a cold expression to her face.

She reacted instantly.

As Gehenna same closer to them she sent her daughter back with a gentle push and met Gehenna's outstretched hand with her own.

As they collided the force made cracks in the ground and a lound boom echoed.

Morrigan found she couldnt take the attack's power and the revelation came with a wave of pain as she was sent back.

Blood splattered on the ground.

"Mommy!" The little girl cired. She moved to help her mother.

"Grace, stay back!" Morrigan snarled. She held her shoulder tightly.

Grace, seeing her, went pale. " M-Mommy . . .Your arm, its . . .!"

"Gone, yes" Gehenna finished with a laughed. " Losing an arm for a soulless doll? Have you truly become so sentimental? Well, a lost arm wouldnt hurt you. . . But now i know what will. Ah, dont try to move for at least a few minutes. I injected that strike with my own energy. Right now it should be doing all kinds of damage to you internally."

Morrigan felt it. Her insides made it seem like she was being struck with lightning and her muscles twitched slightly in anguish. She found it was excruciating for her to move and she could only crouch down with an arm on her bloody shoulder. Even that slight movement sent agony throughout her entire being.

Gehenna hadn't been able to achieve this degree of control before. She was all about raw power. How could she do something like this so easily?

" Gehenna, whatever grievances we have had in the past, leave her out of it!" She spoke furiously,

" Ha, do you really think that I would care what you say at this point?" The woman coldly replied.

Grace stared at her mother blood-soaked shoulder, her eyes showing horror at the terrible wound.

She turned her head slowly, looking at Gehenna with an odd light in her little eyes. Gehenna ddint know why, but something about the little girl's eyes were vastly familiar to her, it was almsot unsettling.

"You, to my mother. . . you hurt her. You hurt her!" The little girl seemed to have become enraged.

"I wont. . .let you . . .bully us!" She screamed.

Her mother knew that look all too well.

That rage, that dark, empty gaze that exuded a heavy pressure and killing intent. . .

She called out desperately. "No, dont!" No matter how powerful she become when she was like this, against Gehenna it wouldnt be enough. How could a little girl do what the most powerful of beings couldnt? How could she stand against the one who all gods and demons feared?

But it was too late.

The girl raised a hand and she condensed several dozen long spears of azure and black light that spun around her tiny figure. She had a hollow look in her eyes, her gaze sharp and emitting a fierce bloodlust.

"Go" She commanded. Following her words the spears of light soared towards Gehenna at an amazing speed. They were streaks as they flew towards their target.

"Oh? What an interesting attack. These spears, they dont seem to be made of mere mana. They let out their own individual energy reading and even follow my movements. Is this your own creation perhaps?" Gehenna easily dodged the spears, her body disappearing each time they got close to her.

"Ah, and yet they seem a bit lacking? Oh, but look, they multiply!"

It was true, each spears split into three in midair. And then they spit again and again, never loosing their original size.

Gehenna found that they even gained speed and they left behind streaks of light that were probably dangerous to touch. The streaks didnt fade but stayed solid. It was almost like a spider's web by now. She moved her body to the sky.

" This cant really fit into the category of battle skills quite yet. No, this is more of a unique attack tailored to you specifically, is it not? But something like this wouldnt work on one such as I, foolish girl. Look here. "

Gehenna stopped moving. Grace manipulated the spears with both her hands and they came altogether to strike at her from all directions.

Gehenna let them hit, the spears exploding upon contact.

The little girl's expression was hard to guess at, having reached a state where few emotions clouded her mind in her attempt to destroy the thing in front of her. However, it was clear by the flash of light in her eyes that she was confident in her victory.

Nothing had ever escaped unharmed from this attack of hers. Even the three old dragons she had once come across praised the power of this attack she created.

Gehenna, though, wasnt impressed. She came out unscathed from the explosion and looked at the girl with disdain.

"It's much too soon to celebrate. I haven't even warmed up yet. Do try not to bore me. " Gehenna didnt bear a singe mark. Previously she had taken on a Forbidden Spell of the highest order. How could she fail to withstand something of this degree?

Although it did sting a bit, that was already a praise-worthy achievment.

Grace's eyes flashed once more.

"I wont allow you to hurt my mommy anymore." She whispered, looking determined. She raised her hand. Azure and black light gathered around her and created a fierce wind that made the ship behind her creak and groan, the wood cracking from the sheer force.

Gehenna looked amused, her smile growing in mockery and ridicule. " From the appearance, it seems to be a mere blast of energy? How unoriginal. Well, I suppose I cant expect much from a child. Come, entertain me a bit will you?" She taunted. She generously let the girl gather her power, not caring to dodge this time.

She wanted to see how far the girl could push her, if at all.

Slowly, the girl's hand fell and a wave of energy did indeed came forth, destroying all in its path. The energy was terrifying in power and felt almost ominous, extremely overbearing.

It radiated an enormous amount of power. In that moment, if one were paying atention, they would undoubtedly feel the power from miles upon miles away. It was simply that strong.

It hit Gehenna with a amazing amount of force and her view was full of azure and black light.

The young girl let out a small smile then, coming back to her original self in the assurance that she had won.

But in mere moments she saw a shadowy figure in the explosion of light.

An instant later she felt a terrifying bloodlust in front of her.

" Well, it certainly wasnt weak. It even broke a bit of skin. Had it been the me of before, no doubt i would have recieved a fair amount of damage. Too bad. Im not the same as I was then. But the attack was a bit hollow, to be honest. Such a shame. See how easily it breaks? Die," A voice called out. Gehenna appeared like a shadow in front of the young girl.

She struck out ruthlessly with a simple strike of her hand. For a small, weak girl like this using the large sword would be almost insulting to it, she believed.

And so, Gehenna, as she appeared before the girl, fully intended to kill her.

This thing, was it not an empty doll Morrigan had created? Even if not, Gehenna had killed many before, childen included. She wouldnt bat an eye at one more.

And yet in the instant that she saw the young girl at so close a range she noticed something that made her hold back at the last moment.

Just before the strike could claim the girls' life Gehenna made it so only a long slash was inflicted. It stretched from the center of her little chest to her lower abdomen in a long, vicious cut.

Grace felt her dress being torn as a sticky warm wetness spread throughout her small chest.

"Ah. . ." She cried out softly, her expression one of shock and pain.

She was blown back roughly, blood making a trail in the air.

Just as the girl was struck, Morrigan's lost arm twisted unnaturally on the ground and burst into a dozen crows. They flew towards her, streaks of black light as they hurtled towards her bloodied shoulder and reforming into a perfect, whole arm once again.

But the phantom pain of her once-severed limb was still fresh. Morrigan pushed through that pain, forcing herself forward to move and catch her daughter.

Morrigan berrated herself: How could she let this happen?

What's more, she couldnt display her power. Her daughter, if she was exposed to the high concentration of death energy from Morrigan's attacks, could her body handle it?

Though the girl herself could manipulate death energy, it was far less potent that Morrigan's and it was not gurranteed that her small frame could withstand the deadly energies. Not many could.

Morrigan couldnt risk unleashing her full power here. And without doing that, how could she beat Gehenna? Even last time she had help from several powerful gods.

Even then, they could only defeat her temporarily. . .Obviously her appearance here meant she survived even that

" Girl, that thing around your neck. . ." Gehenna frowned.

She looked at the little girl intently, an odd light coming into her eyes as she stared at a small ring hanging from the girl's neck on a chain. Her face went pale,

No, it cant be. . .I thought it might be, but that ring, that ring's really his. But how? There's no way that he would give it away. . .!

That ring, Gehnna remembered it vividly. It was with her brother since childhood and she she couldnt remember a time when he didnt have it. She often gazed at it on his finger as she followed him around, admiring the beautiful blue stone on it. How was it possible for her to not recognise it.

Gehenna thought about the girl, how she called Morrigan mommy. She stared at the girl once more and was horrified by what she saw.

Her small face, it no longer resembled Morrigan in Gehenna's mind. Now she saw the face of another upon the little girl's.

A face with shoulder-length midnight black hair, a confident aura of power and brilliant azure blue eyes that seemed to gaze into your soul. . .

Impossible she thought numbly. She cant be his. She cant be. But her eyes, they're truly a mirror image of his. . .

Gehenna turned to look at Morrigan. Remembered the way she protected the young girl. How she looked at her with deep affection and love.

Grace. She called her Grace. That ring, that name. . .

Gehenna's face was full of disbelief.

"Morrigan, you. . .That girl is she. . .is she really your daughter? No, that's impossible. You cant give life. . ." She rationalized.

No death goddess could support life. It was physically impossible for them, their bodies radiated too much coldness and death energy to give birth.

And yet . . Maybe, if it was his. He, who was capable of breaking from the control of The Fates, then. . .

My beloved brother was always the exception to many things. Could that apply to even something like this?

Gehenna had a sudden realization.

So, this is the way it is. . ., she thought.

"Ha. . .Hahaha~! I see, I see! It was really like that." She smiled, laughing. The sound felt wrong to Morrigan's ears.

"So even he chose you over me. He refused me, but accepted you." She smiled, her eyes going hollow. Indeed, if it was not that then what other explanation was there for him leaving?

At the time when she was still weak, how could he not want to be rid of her? She was too much of a burden, a nuisance even.

" Morrigan, so you really have decided to take everything away from me. My body wasnt enough? You reduced me to such a state all those years ago and now you want to take him away too? I wonder, how long were you watching us before you made your move? How did you even find me inside that girl's body? Ah, well, no matter. Daughter, huh. Haha, well, since you want to take what's mine I can do the same, can I not?"

Her words caused Morrigan to hold Grace tighter. This. . .She cant mean what I think, right?

Gehenna came to a decision.

I might not be able to reverse the past, but I can take her place. . .In the end, what is her's was only stolen from me. Have i not the right to take it back?, she thought.

" I never tried raising another living being, but I suppose it cant be all that difficult. I just have to get rid of her, then once I find him I can have back everything Morrigan took from me. Now that I have been restored to my full power, I wont fall for her tricks like last time," She whispered to herself.

--But is the situation really what you think? If he saw what we became, wouldnt he be sad?

Gehenna's mind was suddenly stuck with a sharp pain. "Agh!" She cried out, holding a hand to her head.

What is this. . .? That thought . . . It wasnt. . .mine. . ..

Morrigan watched warily. She didnt know what was running through Gehenna's mind, but it was clear she was distracted. As Gehenna held her head Morrigan forced her body to move once again and took Grace, along with the little fox, into the air.

The ship wasnt fast enough. Their only chance to escape was to get to the school and regroup with Loki and Fenris. Those two would be able to keep Gehenna at bay.

"Where do you think you're taking her? Do you think. . .That I'll let you run away?" Gehenna, still feeling a lingering pain in her mind, held out a hand and the large blade flew into her palm.

Azure flames spewed forth from its blade.

"This sword wouldnt harm one who carried his blood. However, it would leave you and that vermin without even ashes to signify you ever existed." Gehenna raised the sword and slashed down, azure flames erupting into the air as it chased after Morrigan's figure.

It was everywhere, so large that it could block out part of the sky and faster than lightning. This was Gehenna displaying the full capability of the sword, making it attack to its current limits unlike how she played with Asmodeus.

With this, not even her soul would remain intact. . .!

Even a goddess would die if her soul was extinguished!

Morrigan turned, the azure flames reflected in her eyes.

It's too large, too fast. . .I cant dodge it. . .

The thought echoed in her mind. She felt a depressing amount of danger coming from the flames.

The azure light encompassed her entire view and the energy it displayed even outstripped the attack Grace made. It was several times stronger and the heat was scorching.

At this time, the blade was vibrating violently. It grew hot in Gehenna's hands.

Morrigan saw a tall silhouette in front of her just moments before the azure flames were to hit.

The figure waved a hand and the flames were dispered as if it were a candle in the wind.

A calm, almost casual voice, instantly recognizable, spread throughtout the entire area.

" You were right, Loki. It seems there is something a bit interesting here afterall." The man raised his voice at the slightly flushed child-like figure to his far left.

He turned. " Morrigan. Damn. I thought so, but it really was you, huh." He sighed. " This cant be a coincidence. Looks like Loki owes me a bit of an explanation." He muttered before continuing. His eyes darkened as he saw the little girl with the bloody chest

Morrigan stammered. "Dear. . you. . .How?" She almost didnt believe her eyes.

" Nevermind that. And dont call me dear. It irritates me. For now we should get her fixed up." Roland said. He abruptly took the girl from Morrigan's arms.

"I don't sense that feeling of dread that usually accompanies your battles. Against a strong enemy, it seems you didn't release any death energy. Good choice. This little girl probably wouldn't survive it." He commented, looking at the girl's face.

This girl, she looks pretty similar to Morrigan. I wonder if she's some kind of clone or something. . . He thought idly.

Even if she was it wouldnt matter to him though.

Her eyes were open, but they were hazy and she probably didnt even know what was happening.

Hm? Somehow this girl feels a bit special? How odd.

He shook his head slightly and looked at the wound. The girl's black dress was torn, exposing the long slash that was overflowing with blood.

"What a cruel strike. It might have even killed her." He said softly.

He took her from Morrigan's stunned face and ran a finger over the painful-looking wound. It closed up easily upon contact.

He felt a deep, cold anger rise in him. Such a small girl, who dared?

He looked at the other woman far from them. Her hand was full of blood and blue flames surrounded her. The attack just now obviously came from her. He had seen numerous bodies of Immortals moments ago. All killed mercilessly.

So, was she the one causing all this trouble?

Roland didnt care about the others, the Immortals. If they attacked the woman she should defend herself. You had to protect your own life, right?

But to harm a child so viciously?

He simply didnt like that, no matter what the little girl may have done. He disliked harming children unless they were the kind of sick, twisted bastards that couldnt be saved.

This girl who looked so innocent and pure and sweet, she was at least not of that category, he knew.

Roland held the young girl protectively in his arms as he released a frightening aura.

His eyes glowed brightly in the semi-darkness.

"It seems I have to return the favor. It's only fair." He smiled coldly.

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Author's notes: Welp, he's here. Heh.

Ah, i just want to make it clear, Right now Gehenna believes that the reason Roland left was because of Morrigan. She may also have come to the conclusion of wanting to kidnap Grace, maybe brainwash her and then take Morrigan's place with Roland.

But that is a perfectly reasonable decision to come to right? Also, yeah, Gehenna and Morrigan may have a bit of history.

Gehenna is the forgiving type though so im SURE she'll just let bygones be bygones. >_>

. . .on an unrelated note, anyone know Melanie Martinez? i swear i listen to a few of her songs at least ten times a day. Especially this one called Mad hatter of hers.

Everytime i write of Gehenna, i listen to that song. Damn, i really am getting a bit too hooked on them. How did i even discover the songs?

I cant remember but i blame my 17yo niece. She is the only one who listens to stuff like this. She probably made me listen to one awhile ago and that probably just caused this entire thing,

Meh, i like them though.