Chapter Text
EVIL VS JUSTICE
As both Brunhilde and Goll walked through the halls of Valhalla, their destination being the Akashi Record’s Room, both of them thought of the encounter that they just had before.
Heracles was going to be the next fighter.
Wringing her hands Goll couldn’t help but speak out loud “I guess we’re going to be fighting brother Heracles next round.” The implications of what that meant weighed on her.
Brunhilde didn’t speak. She simply kept walking to their shared destination.
As they Goll looked at her eldest sister and smiled weakly “Even if we do summon a Hero, I don’t know who I would root for.”
Brunhilde looked at her youngest sister with an understanding look, one that morphed into anger when she looked away to gaze upon the Akashi Records, and then finally into a sad expression as they approached the console.
“Still we would need to find an opponent that could match Brother Heracles,” Goll placed her hands upon the table housing the console “Who could possible be equal to him?”
Brunhilde’s hand was already on the tablet before her youngest sister could finish her sentence “I actually had the perfect opponent for him since the start.”
The file ‘numbers’ of Humanity ticked down, and Goll was quite surprised to see it tick fairly low. Not as low as when they had summoned Adam, but still in that range.
Whoever the fighter was, they were ancient.
“Who is he sister?” Goll asked, watching as the numbers ticked further down “A war lord, a king?”
“No.” Brunhilde spoke as the numbers finally slowed down “Someone that can match Heracle’s view of justice, and mirror it perfectly.” Her face turned sinister “And show him a mirror to the ugly truth that he wishes to look past.”
Goll tilted her head at the sentence.
But then the numbers stopped, and the file was selected.
It was an unassuming face, a young boy with no discernible features. And then his name was revealed.
“████ █████”
- Ancient Persia, nameless villager.
Goll looked at the name that came up, it was blank and oddly sickening to look at. While Brunhilde looked upon the name without a flinch, Goll couldn’t help but close her eyes to rub at them.
When she opened them again, she was surprised at what she saw.
The face had changed, instead it was a gaunt almost terrifying looking skull. His cheeks were sunken and his eyes looked like they were dead. His skin was marred and marked with hundreds, no millions, no maybe even more, marks that stretched all over his body.
Then she looked at his name again.
“Angra Mainyu”
- Ancient Persia, All of Humanity’s Evil.
The moment she saw that, she scrambled backwards from the screen in shock. Her head whirled to her eldest sister, “Sister?!” Brunhilde didn’t seem that affected by what she was seeing. Her finger jabbed at the image and her voice came out louder than she had before “Wh-Who is this?!” She almost demanded, before she shook her head and stomped her feet “What is this?”
She almost missed the sinister glint in her sister’s eyes when she turned away from the image to summon the fighter “Heracles’ opponent,” The room they were in glowed the once brilliant light, before it turned sick and black. The light fading into a red glow that illuminated her from behind “Who better to fight the embodiment of Justice than the embodiment of Evil himself?”
Then just as quickly as the light arrived, it faded and the room was silent.
Goll looked behind Bunhilde and she felt her hair stand.
There sitting on the edge of the room, leaning against the wall was…
A man.
No it was a boy.
But he wasn’t well.
He was gaunt, as if he had been starved but not enough to kill him from hunger. His limbs looked twisted, but not enough to stop him from moving. His skin was marred with hundred of scars and wounds that looked simultaneously fresh and old. Not to mention the various tattoos that were carved, yes carved, into them.
The boy lifted his hanging head, and she felt the room turn cold as eyes of similar temperature met her own.
Goll looked upon the face of All of Humanity’s Evil.
And strangely found herself… underwhelmed.
Because the moment she looked, she realized that he didn’t seem as threatening as she should have found him.
The gaunt face looked like a boy that was hungry, the twisted limbs just looked like a boy that was hurt, and the cold eyes just seemed like someone was tired.
The fear vanished and instead she felt pity.
Was that… bad?
“No,” as if she could hear her thoughts, Brunhilde answered for her. Instead she looked at her eldest sister giving her a, shockingly, warm smile “That means you could see the Human underneath.”
With that confusing line, Brunhilde walked and approached the boy.
Standing in front of him, the Valkyrie looked down at him, as he did the opposite.
A lazy half grin stretched his scarred face “Well well,” his voice was raspy, as if it was underused or had been damaged and only recently it had been fixed “Am I seeing things right now? A lady with some nice bazoonka’s standing before me, or would I make an ass out of myself for assuming.”
Goll frowned at the… crass language. Yet, she couldn’t help but look at Brunhilde who didn’t seem affected.
“I dunno why you summoned me though,” the boy shrugged “I am literally the bottom of the barrel, hell not even that. I’m what’s under the barrel that you look under in some desperate attempt to find something to use.” He lifted his arm to give a vague gesture “Couldn’t you have picked someone else, like some annoying archer in a red coat?”
“No.” Brunhilde’s voice was firm, making the boy lower his hand to look at her “You are exactly what I need, you will be the opponent for Heracles next round.”
“Me against that musclebound freak?” The grin fell away with a disbelieving laugh “You got some screws loose lady. I’d get flattened in an instant, pick someone with a sword bigger than their ego.”
“I said I chose you,” Brunhilde repeated herself, her voice harsh yet somehow softer “You are exactly the type of opponent that Heracles needs to fight, Angra Mainyu.”
He raised an eyebrow at the name, before he closed his eyes with a sigh “If you say so lady, guess I don’t have a choice.” Slowly, gingerly, and painfully the boy stood up. He rolled his shoulders, causing Goll to wince as the cracking that came from them was not the same sound that would come from just popping one’s joints.
“This is gonna be a circus though,” He added in “I hope you know that.”
Brunhilde smiled “Then give us all a good show then.”
Angra Mainyu laughed “This’ll be fun.”