Ami frowned. "A forge? Doesn't really seem like Rei's style..."
"It's funny..." Nandus commented. "But I only knew Rei to be a blacksmith."
Ami stared at him. "Rei? As in, Rei Hino? Sailor Mars? A BLACKSMITH? How did THAT happen?"
"Well, Mom used to tell me that story several times when I was a little kid... you know, Rei never knew that being the goddess of fire included being the goddess of the forge. At first, she was outraged, and asked Haruka if she wanted to take her job instead. After all, she was the one who liked to deal with weapons and such. Haruka would have gladly accepted... but she already had learned that being the Goddess of Duels and honorable battles also included being the Goddess of Storms... and given her aspect of air, it was quite fitting for her. On top of that, she would have to work hand in hand with the Goddess of the Sea... which, naturally, was Michiru. So in the end, Makoto sold her lightning aspect to Haruka, while Haruka offered her earth aspect to Rei, so she could better take care of all the volcanoes on Aurius. And finally, Rei reluctantly accepted her new job as the blacksmith of the gods. And over the years, she even learned to love it. And now she is the Goddess of Fire, of the Mountains and Craftworks. She can still be pretty spiritual at times, but after learning that gods have been mortal beings once, she pretty much abandoned being a Shinto priestess... to be honest, I've never learned anything about that religion, except that Rei's grandfather was a priest..."
Ami's head was spinning once again. "You can just sell your aspect?" she wondered.
Nandus nodded. "Yes, and the most profit, of course, goes to the Goddess of Commerce and Thieves..."
"And that would be...?"
"Nabiki."
"I've never heard of someone with that name before. She certainly was no Senshi."
"No, she was one of the other girls that have been chosen to fill in the positions of the Twelve Goddesses. Her sister Kasumi is the Goddess of Homes, of Hospitality and of Marriage."
"Marriage?" Ami wondered. "I thought Minako was the Goddess of Love..."
"True, Minako and Kasumi often work together hand in hand. But while Minako concentrates on the spiritual love, the passion and the fondness the beloved ones feel to each other, Kasumi takes care of what happens to them after they are married.
"I have the feeling this is much more complex than I originally thought..." Ami sighed. "Very well, let's just go and visit Rei... maybe that will give me an idea how all of this is working..."
Nandus nodded. "Yes, of course!"
Their platform floated to the left, and they floated along another corridor, but this one had wide, ornate windows that had no glass and allowed Ami to see the night sky with the stars and the bright moon.
Seeing the moon made her wonder what kind of role Usagi had taken. naturally, she believed that she had to be the Goddess of the Moon, but after what she heard of Rei, she wasn't too sure.
She saw how Nandus watched the moon with an almost sad expression. He sighed deeply and murmured something she did not understand.
If Nandus had talked a bit louder, she definitely would have been surprised, since he was murmuring:
"Your moon is lovely tonight... sister."
Even before they reached their destination, Ami could feel the heat coming from Rei's Forge. The walls weren't made of marble anymore, but of solid steel, and the loud hammer noises were echoing throughout the castle.
Ami coughed when they were entering a huge doorway from which an enormous plume of steam was coming. The heat made her sweat, and she barely could see anything through the steam.
Nandus made a short gesture, and a sudden gust of wind drove the steam clouds apart. And now Rei could see the enormous forge deep below her...
A basin as huge as five swimming pools was filled with molten metal. Giant jars of stone or clay were hovering above the basin, poring even more of the hot liquid inside. Enormous machines were standing next to the pool, and Ami couldn't even guess what they were for. Everywhere, she could see big, muscular workers that were only dressed in leathery loincloths. They were at least thrice as big as a human being. When one of them turned around to take a look at their hovering platform, Ami was shocked to see that he had only one eye.
"Th-that's a cyclops," she stuttered.
Nandus nodded. "Yes, they are the best blacksmiths on Aurius, except for Rei herself, and the best of them work here, in her forge, after their death. We also have many dwarves and humans in here, but they work in the smaller forge, on the lower level. In here, Rei and the cyclops are working on the very best masterpieces. Most of them normally take at least ten years to finish. But if she finishes one of her creations, she will bring it down to Aurius, as an idea she will put into the head of a brilliant craftsman. And this is how the Aurians have invented many, important things like the anvil, the furnace and the steam engine."
"And where is Rei?" Ami yelled, because the noise was getting even louder while they were flying past the working cyclops.
Nandus gestured over to the edge of the forge, where a gigantic figure was standing, dwarfing even the herculean figures of the cyclops. Ami was flabbergasted... Rei was at least as big as Tokyo Tower. She was lifting a hammer whose head had the measures of a one-family house, raised it high above her head and slammed it down on a piece of metal that was lying on the huge anvil in front of her. The only reason why Ami's eardrums weren't damaged by now was that Nandus had created a protection field that isolated them from the heat, the smoke and the loud noise.
"She... she seems busy," Ami shouted.
"Hey, she's been working on that stuff for three years now. I think she wouldn't mind taking a little break. I'm gonna call her..."
"Do you think she'll even notice us?" Ami asked.
"No problem!" Nandus grinned and snapped his fingers. A giant signpost made of steel appeared in the air, directly in front of the giantess. Rei lowered her hammer in confusion and looked around, until she saw the little platform on which Ami and Nandus were standing.
She grinned. "NANDUS!" she said in a booming voice that was appropriate to her size. "HOW NICE OF YOU TO VISIT! WHO'S YOUR FRIEND?"
"Don't tell me you don't recognize my mother," Nandus chuckled. He was talking in the same volume as previously, and yet, Rei still seemed to understand him just fine. "But it's her younger self from the past. I'm just showing her Alveran."
"WELL, THAT IS CERTAINLY A SURPRISE!" Rei grinned. "AMI, BACK WHEN SHE WAS STILL A LITTLE BOOKWORM... BUT THEN AGAIN, SHE'S STILL ONE EVEN TODAY, RIGHT?" She laughed. "BUT WAIT A MINUTE, I GUESS I SHOULD COME DOWN SO WE CAN TALK BETTER..."
She put down her hammer next to the anvil and closed her eyes. In no time, she had shrunk down to the size of a regular human and was standing on the platform, next to Ami. The Goddess of Fire opened her eyes again and smiled at the visitor from the past.
"Ami!" she said and gave her friend's younger self a massive hug. "Good to see you! My, seeing you like this sure does bring back memories."
"N-nice to see you too, Rei," Ami said. She gave the goddess a closer look. Rei was not only older, but also more muscular than before. She was wearing clothes of leather, including a heavy leather apron. Around her waist, there was a thick belt with numerous tools hanging down from it. Her long, raven-black hair was tied up in a ponytail.
"So, Nandus is showing you around, eh? Well then, how do you like my little workshop?"
Ami looked around. "Um, it certainly is... big!" She smiled weakly.
"It sure is," Rei nodded proudly. "It makes working with those cyclops much more interesting. But, as I always told your older self: It's not the size of the hammer, it's the way you swing it!" She grinned.
Ami chuckled. "Good to see you didn't lose your humor after 4000 years."
"Rei, why don't you show her Grindar?"
"Good idea," Rei said, and they floated closer to the colossal hammer that was leaning against the even bigger anvil. "Look, this is it, my very first creation at this forge: My hammer, Grindar!"
Ami blinked. "Grindar?"
"Yup, I named it after seeing how easily I can grind even mountains with that thing. After all, these earthquakes have to come from somewhere."
"You... you deliberately cause earthquakes with that thing?" Ami gasped.
"Of course I do. I thought better of you, Ames. After all, earthquakes are a part of nature. And they aren't just forces of destruction, they have a purpose. And of course I always tell my priests when I'm planning the next quake, so they'll have time enough to evacuate the area."
"Nandus... already told me you made a deal with Haruka," Ami said. "But you're still the Goddess of Fire as well?"
"Of course I am," Rei nodded. "After all, where does the heat come from, if not from the center of the earth? And dealing with volcanoes is much easier when you can also control the earth."
Ami had more questions, but the noise and the heat were making her woozy. Not even Nandus' isolation field was enough to keep the loud racket of the hammers and machines on a bearable level.
Nandus noticed this and said: "I think we'll leave you now, Rei. We still have so much more to see. After all, we don't want to distract you from your work."
"So much to do," Rei chuckled. "Where to begin? But you are always welcome to visit me in my free time. You know the work schedule of my forge, don't you, Nandus?"
"Yeah, I know, don't worry! See you later, Rei!"
"Later, kiddo!" Rei said as she stepped off the platform and grew in size again. "AND IT WAS NICE TO MEET YOU, AMI-CHAN! BYE!"
"Um... bye, Rei!" Ami said and waved. "And, um... good luck with your current project.
"HEY, THANKS!" the giantess grinned and picked up her hammer. Then she went back to work and slammed Grindar down as if she wanted to pulverize the piece of metal lying on her anvil.
Ami fanned her face as they left the forge. "Well, she certainly has changed..."
"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," Nandus grinned. "This was just the beginning of the tour."
While they were approaching the last intersection of the corridor, Ami had the strange feeling as if everything was getting colder by the second. But maybe those were just the aftereffects of the searing heat in the forge. But just a short time later, she was freezing.
"N-n-nandus, what is th-that?" she asked with clattering teeth.
"I think you are about to meet one of the other gods of Alveran," Nandus frowned. "She sometimes comes here because she has business with Rei... it's the Goddess of Ice and Snow, the Mistress of the Hunt, Lilith."
"L-lilith?" Ami wondered.
"Well, I heard her original name was Rei Ayanami, but since we already have a goddess called Rei, she decided to change her name. Don't be confused when we meet her. She's not quite the most social of persons..."
And when they came around the corner, Ami saw her, the goddess Lilith. She had a pale face, pale blue hair and a pair of eyes that seemed to pierce Ami's soul like a pair of icicles.
A blizzard of snowflakes was surrounding her, and the cold air that was swept in their direction made Ami shiver. She was clad in an outfit that looked like it was entirely made of leather and white fur. A long bow was strapped to her back, as well as a quiver with arrows.
"Godling Nandus," she said, and her voice was like the icy chill of winter. "Why aren't you studying for school?"
"Um, greetings, Lilith-sama... I am currently showing Ami-chan the citadel. She's a visitor from the past, the younger self of my mother and..."
Lilith stared at Ami, and the Senshi of Mercury had the feeling as if she would freeze to death under that stare.
"Um... how is Ifirn doing?" Nandus asked.
"My daughter is fine," Lilith stated. "Please excuse me, I have to talk to Goddess Rei..."
"Um, no problem..." Nandus muttered while he goddess slowly stepped past them, followed by the snow and the cold.
Ami was relieved when she walked around the corner and it got warmer. "Is sh-she always like this?" she wondered.
Nandus nodded. "Even back when she was still a normal girl. She was perfect for the job," he sighed. "Mother offered her ice aspect to Lilith as soon as she found out that she took the job of the winter goddess..."
"And her daughter... is in your class?" Ami asked.
"Yes, and Ifirn is so different from her mother. She's always nice, cheerful and polite. Quite often, the people don't pray to Lilith, but to her daughter, since they know she would listen to their pleas."
"But if Lilith is the winter goddess, so what could Ifirn do?" Ami wondered.
"Well... we all know that Lilith cares for her daughter, and quite often, listens to her. I believe Ifirn is the only one who truly understands Lilith..."
"That is so sad..." Ami murmured. "I wonder what happened to her that she's like this..."
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(Posted Fri, 16 May 2008 13:29)
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