Fortune Trinity
(originally the title was going to be called Valkyrie's Favor after the sword, but then I stupidly realized there was already a fic named that.)

Synopsis: Roughly twenty-five years have passed since Lezard was defeated, and the Valkyries have been reincarnated into human beings. Rufus must make a difficult choice, complicated further by the fact that Alicia has been reincarnated as well.

Note 1: After writing a good deal of "Hrist" I felt the need to unwind my brain by doing something completely lacking in plot and substance. Please don't disown me.

Note 2: I hate making up new names for characters, but for Silmeria's human identity was unavoidable in this. The other characters I gave their other human names because... well, Arngrim can get away with it, so I figure anybody ought to.

Chapter 1: Alicia

A tavern in Villnore bustled with an average night's activities. The constant murmur of so many voices dropped slightly but not all together as four women stepped into the tavern. They could hear the old men cough, probably to cover the comments of their fellows as they entered, but none spoke aloud. These girls were building a reputation already less than a year after their debut as a females only mercenary team-farm girls from Coriander turned to the dangerous profession when their father had figuratively bought the farm and they had been literally forced to sell theirs.

The four were sisters, their names were Leone, Platina, Fortuna, and Alicia, and they had been born in that same order. Alicia, the youngest, had been given a name popularized by a princess because she would be the last, and therefore, daddy's little princess. Fortuna was named for her golden hair which reminded their father of the fabulous wealth which he often dreamt of. Platina was named for her placid eyes and silvery hair; her personality had grown to suit it as she grew older. Leone had been the name of a p passing treasure hunter that their father had fawned over (something they did not discover until long after the death of their mother, of course). It was a suitably mysterious name for the little girl who grew in to the raven-haired vixen that she was that night when they entered the tavern. As for the source of these names, he always told them that Freya whispered the names to him when they were created and told him that each of them were children most important to fate's work, but they eventually grew up and learned where babies really came from.

Though the others loved their father, they had grown to understand that he was something of a useless git, but the youngest was still pure and still believed in her fathers words. The man had died almost a year ago, and Alicia was still not the same. She had been the closest to him, a daddy's girl through and through. For lack of a male heir, her father taught them all how to fight, but she practiced the most diligently, always trying to impress him.

Alicia's skills were unmatched, but her bravery in battle was something to be desired. Leone was the most efficient in this respect. Though Alicia could beat her in a spar, she was always the best in a real fight. Alicia hated to kill, especially when it was other human beings they were fighting against.

The chain of command followed age after that, with Platina being the cool-headed advisor to their leader, and Fortuna the support. The middle children were also proficient in archery, they had learned it hunting small game around coriander. Alicia often felt that she had no particular place in the group; that should could not prove herself in any one area.

As they entered the tavern, Alicia sighed because the smell of alcohol reminded her of her father-not that he was a drunk, but that was the only place she had ever smelled alcohol other than in pubs. They sat down and ordered four beers. Alicia had no fondness for it, but made herself sip a little at a time just so that she could join in with the others.

Meanwhile, Platina explained their situation. "If we are going to slay that fire bird and its young, we are definitely going to need another dedicated archer on our team. I can use one, but Fortuna is far better than I am, and if it is our only means of attack, we had better find at least one person whose proficiency is as as great as hers."

"Unfortunately, archery seems to have fallen out of style among female mercenaries," Fortuna sighed. "I'm the only one I've ever met. It seems like there used to be nothing but female archers..."

"When?" Leone interjected. "When have you ever met one?"

"I don't know," Fortuna said, realizing that she couldn't recall, though it had seemed a solid point a moment ago. "There was a female sword for hire named Jessica in our town when we were little, wasn't there?"

"That crazy lady who kept calling herself a former Einherjar?" Hrist chuckled. "I hope you've got better contacts than that."

"The gender of our temporary ally concerns me very little," Platina said quickly, before the two began to bicker. "Besides, it may be that a young man with much to prove to the female persuasion is likely to be more loyal than a woman who would view us as competition."

"A woman is a woman's worst enemy," Fortuna agreed.

"So," Leone said, stopping mid-chug to speak, "We will break our rule this once. Look around, see if there's any guys carrying bows. It's not difficult."

Platina turned in her chair to scan the crowd. It was a busy night and the place was packed. Alicia wasn't sure if any of these people were the types they would want on their team, all rowdy and rambunctious. Most were old men. Finally her eyes caught on one young man sitting at a table by himself in the corner, not rejoicing today's catch or the results of a game. It was his loneliness that caught her attention before anything else, though upon closer inspection, there were other oddities. He had delicate features, and she believed that standing up he must be ten feet tall. His hair was long and the prettiest dark green. She found herself feeling jealous and then realized how extremely odd that was, since he was a man and all.

"Hey, Alicia, what are you looking at?" Fortuna asked.

"Huh?" Alicia replied, and snapped back to attention. "Was I staring?"

"You were completely spaced out," she laughed, and looked in the direction that had captivated Alicia's attention. Platina looked as well. "Hey," Fortuna said, "you were looking at that guy over there..."

"I wasn't!" Alicia lied, "I mean, not any more than I was supposed to be..."

Platina rubbed her chin. "Well, he's got a rather impressive bow with him," she said. Alicia first noticed that when she pointed it out. He did have a bow with a make of high quality strapped to his back along with a quiver. "Go talk to him."

"What?" Alicia wailed. "W-why me?"

Fortuna shrugged. "Because you're the cutest one among us."

"I really doubt that," Alicia whimpered while pouting. "Leone's chest is the biggest, send her!"

"He doesn't look like that type," Leone answered flatly. She was more interested in her beer.

"Just what type does he look like?" Platina asked.

Leone looked up, opened her mouth to answer, then shut it and looked down again. "I shouldn't say in front of Alicia," she said. Platina pressed two fingers to her forehead in frustration.

"Hey..." Alicia whimpered.

"Just go and ask him if he wants a job!" Fortuna demanded and began shaking Alicia's chair impatiently. "Stop being so shy!"

Alicia stood up and felt her legs wobbling a bit. This was somehow harder than fighting a ravenous beast or a demon. In fact, she wished that it took just a show of arms to seal a deal; that she might be good at. Much to the amusement of her female cohorts who laughed heartily afterwards, she lifted her mug of beer and took a few big gulps, then wiped her mouth on her sleeve. That helped a little, or at least she convinced herself that it did long enough to get her walking.

She crossed the tavern, nearly knocked flat by a huge man carrying a barrel of wine, and then by a dancing couple. She could hear Leone and Fortuna laughing in her head, though the actual sound had long been drowned out by the activity going on all around her. Platina would probably be shaking her head in dismay, but she could almost hear that, too.

Then somehow as she approached her target, everything seemed a bit more quiet. There was definitely something odd about this young man, she noticed. It was ominous, but not altogether unpleasant. He radiated some kind of feeling, like maybe a divine aura or something like that. Alicia thought that was way beyond silly and berated herself before taking a deep breath and summoning her courage.

"Um," she began to mumble while approaching the table. "Excuse me, uh... sir..."

He didn't turn around. She couldn't discern if he couldn't hear her or if he was purposely ignoring her. She cleared her throat and tried again, louder.

"Excuse me, mister!" she said with more force in her voice, but her posture had lost any sort of strength as a trade-off. She was currently curled up like a turtle in its shell, poking her fingers together nervously. Finally though, he turned his head up and looked at her.

Some strange feeling shot through her when he did that, an overwhelming beam of energy as if she was just glad that this person was alive, though she had no idea why and it was unsettling. She forgot about it, attributing it to her current lightheadedness.

"Sorry to interrupt you," she started off politely. "You see... my friends and I noticed that you happen to be an archer. And well... we need an archer, and so we thought that maybe if you're interested... you could um... come with... us?" She tried her best to pull out a smile at the end, but was sure it looked terribly forced.

He just stared at her, and there wasn't any answer. She stood there pressing her index fingers together in the silence which seemed so very dead and quiet now as compared to a moment ago. His eyes kept on her, and she felt as if he were asking her a million questions, none of which she could understand. One of them, she guessed, had to be Why the hell are you bothering me?

"I'm sorry!" she apologized quickly, bowed so far that she could hide her face, then turned to retreat back to her table. She could see Leone already barking something in disapproval and Fortuna hooting something unpleasant. On the way back across, she bumped and toppled a waitress and had to stop to help her pick up her tray. Thankfully she was carrying empty dishes back into the kitchen instead of full ones out, or the young serving lady would have been much more upset.

Alicia returned to the table with a beet-red face hidden almost entirely by the hair hanging into it. She sat down in defeat and could not even manage an apology to her sisters.

They seemed to understand and let it go. Alicia wondered if she had just failed some kind of test. She didn't want to disappoint her sisters, but speaking up was just so hard for her sometimes. She had never been able to say the right thing growing up, and often offended people or embarrassed herself. From that, she had learned it was better to stay quiet and not to bother people. But, she thought, a swordsman can't think like that, they have to be commanding.

"I will be stronger next time," she said and raised her head. "I promise!"

Fortuna tilted her head. "Hey, why don't you walk back over there and give that guy a piece of your mind for ignoring you? It's not really your fault at all."

"I'd say that you handled it gracefully," Platina said. "Imagine the trouble if it had been Leone, and she had broken his kneecap for the disrespect."

"Hey now-" Leone began, but was cut off by the approach of a waiter from the bar.

"Tall one for the little lady, and it's the good stuff too," the man said, setting down a huge beer in front of Alicia, so big that she had to peer over it. "Much better than that cheap stuff you guys usually order."

"H-hey, we didn't order it," Leone said. "If you try to charge us later, we aren't going to pay!"

"It's compliments of that quiet guy in the corner," he said, and then gave a strong laugh before going back to his work.

"Huh?" Fortuna asked, and looked at the others. Platina shrugged, then they all looked to the place where he had been sitting. No one was there any longer, though he wasn't in the room anywhere else, and they hadn't noticed him leave. "Where did he go? What was his deal, anyway?"

Platina sighed. "So we got an apology, but no job help. Oh well."

Alicia looked intensely at the bubbles rising in the golden liquid in the large glass. "He gave me a strange feeling," she said. Then she stood, lifted the enormous mug, and drank it all down.

"What are you doing?" Fortuna asked, her eyes wide in amazement.

"I'm going to go and talk to him again!" With that, she sprinted away and left through the front door, but not without nearly knocking over another waitress.

"What...?" Fortuna mumbled.

Leone shrugged. "Maybe we should give her some of that before she fights the next time..."

Rufus appeared outside of the establishment in a dark corner, extremely frustrated with what had just transpired. He placed his hands against either side of his head, slapped himself a few times, and winced. "What the hell are they all doing here?"

"Yo," came a husky voice from the street. It was the voice of Arngrim, mercenary-turned-guardian. "What's up, your highness?"

"Don't call me that!" Rufus spat and fidgeted uncomfortably.

Arngrim laughed. "Whoa... What the hell is the matter with you?"

"You were supposed to be here hours ago," Rufus sighed, throwing his arms up in the air. "You won't believe my luck."

"You don't see a guy for a year and that's how you greet him?" Arngrim "What's going on?"

Rufus stepped back out into the street and pointed towards the warm glow emanating from the tavern. "Take a look, my friend."

Arngrim leaned into the window and saw four familiar faces seated around a table within. "Well, I'll be damned," he said. "Alicia's in there, even." He turned back to Rufus. "What's the big deal? Sounds like your lucky day, to me."

"It's not!" Rufus shouted. "Arngrim, Freya is breathing fire down my neck about finding a Valkyrie, and I don't want to find a Valkyrie for as long as I can. I wanted to meet you here so I could tell you that if you ran into one, not to tell me about it!"

"That sounds like a personal problem," Arngrim replied with a nonchalant shrug.

Rufus began to pull at his bangs in frustration. "How did that even happen?"

Arngrim rubbed his chin. "Well, they all died at the same time, so I figure it's pretty natural for them to be reincarnated all together."

"At the same time, maybe!" Rufus retorted. "But no, they were born a few years apart from each other in the same family, what are the odds?"

"They're goddesses of fate, ya know," Arngrim grumbled. He was growing tired of Rufus's typical overreaction. "Just because we don't know the reason doesn't mean that there's not one. I don't understand what you're getting so bent out of shape about."

Rufus calmed down and took a deep breath. "I was trying to avoid them and I ran into all three," he sighed. "Now I'm obligated to take one of them back with me." He looked into the window at the four women sitting together laughing, most likely at the weirdo who had bought the young one a drink and then disappeared.

"Just lie to Freya," Arngrim said. "Tell her you can't find them."

"I can't," Rufus groaned. "I dunno if it's because she's a goddess or what, but she knows when I'm lying."

"Then tell her no! You're the king, dammit."

"Would you want to tell her no?" Rufus asked him. "You may as well declare Ragnarok on yourself."

"Good point," Arngrim shrugged. "Oh well, sounds like you're shit out of luck."

"I guess," Rufus continued, "we probably do need a Valkyrie to keep Midgard safe from demons... I just don't want to ruin their lives so soon. Epsecially Alicia. She should be allowed to live at least one normal, happy, life."

They snapped to attention at the sound of someone exiting the bar. It was the aforementioned former princess, now with shorter hair and different clothes but an altogether familiar appearance. Rufus was shocked out of words once again at the sight of her.

"I'm sorry," she said timidly. "Did I interrupt your conversation?"

"Feh," Arngrim spat. "This weirdo was just asking me if I'm heading out tonight because he doesn't have a place to stay or anybody to travel with. I'm not, though, so I'll be shoving off."

"You'd be crazy to try to make it to the next town this late at night!" Alicia said, stepping forward out of concern for who she must view as a stranger.

Rufus snapped out of it just in time to realize he was being set up. Arngrim turned and began to walk down the dark and empty street. "Arngrim!" he shouted.

"I dunno who the hell you're talkin' to, my name's John," Arngrim replied. "Weirdo..." Rufus scowled and stared threats and daggers into the back of his head, but he was quickly gone.

"Excuse me," Alicia said. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to say that you haven't done anything to offend me, and you didn't need to apologize. Thank you for your kindness, though."

Rufus couldn't believe it. He was actually talking to Alicia, and not cute little 8-year-old Alicia whom he would never feel the same about. No, this was a strong, beautiful, young woman Alicia, like the one that he had known so well-but not identical to her. He would be a fool to think that, and it wouldn't be fair to the girl now standing before him, either. "Ah..." he scrambled for something to say. "No problem..."

Alicia seemed to barely hear him. She tilted her head and smiled meekly. "Have I... met you before?" she asked him.

"No," Rufus replied too quickly. "I mean, I don't think so."

"You know, they'll let anyone sleep at the chapel for free as long as they aren't causing a disturbance," she said. "That's where we are staying. Why don't you come with us?"

"Were those your sisters?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied with a nod and a smile. "They wanted me to ask you to join us for a job we're arranging, but I didn't mean to bother you."

"It's no problem, I was just uhh..."

"It's okay," she said. "Please let me help you find the chapel, at least. Let's say that it's for the drink that you bought me."

"Okay, that sounds good," Rufus said. He smiled as best he could, though he as cursing inside. He wished more than anything to shout everything right there- to let her know who he was and how much he cared about her, but he continued pretending to be a stranger.

The other sisters, unaware of their true identities as the Valkyrie trinity, exited the bar after finishing their beverages and met Alicia and the mysterious archer on the street.

Platina sighed and shook her head in dismay at the sight of Alicia smiling and speaking so freely. "The only way to explain Alicia's sudden lack of inhibition is the amount of alcohol now in her blood. I fee that I have allowed you to corrupt her."

"A little corruption isn't a bad thing," Leone said in a husky voice, clearly amused.

As they stepped within conversational distance, the archer raised his hand and waved to them. Then he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Um... hi," he said.

"What a dazzling first impression he has," Leone said in a flat and sarcastic tone.

Fortuna grinned and rubbed her palms together. "Our little one has good taste," she said.

"Do you think so?" the archer replied, seeming a bit suspicious of that.

"Oh yes," Fortuna answered, patting him on the shoulder with a smile. She looked over him from head to toe as if sizing him up. "Yes, I can tell by your build that you are an archer of great caliber," she said. "Would you tell us your name?"

"Where have I heard that one before," he mumbled with a smirk.

"Hm?" Fortuna just barely missed what he said.

"I said my name's Rufus," he answered. "Pleased to meet you."

"I am Fortuna," she replied. "The dark haired one is Leone, the eldest; then there is Platina, the second child; then me; and Alicia here is the youngest of our flock. We are mercenaries by trade."

"I see," Rufus replied. "Well, I'm just a traveler. I haven't agreed to join you or anything."

The others narrowed their eyes. "Yes," Alicia piped up, stepping between the young (to their knowledge) man and her sisters glares defensively. "I told him that we could take him to the chapel where we are staying since he has nowhere to go."

"A traveler without money for an inn?" Platina noted aloud. "Strange..."

Rufus returned his attention to the girl standing in front of him. "So your name is Alicia?" he asked her. For some reason, Platina thought, this sounded a bit acted out. "There was a princess named that, you know."

Alicia pouted. "Yes I know, don't tease me about it," she whimpered. This was unlike her usual behavior towards strangers, as Platina had pointed out.

"I wasn't trying to!" he pleaded and laughed nervously. "I mean uh... I always thought it was a nice name. That's all. Really!"

Alicia maintained her embarrassed puffy face for a moment and then relaxed into a smile again. "Sorry," she said. "My, you sound tired!"

"Do I?" he answered.

Alicia laughed. "You sound like you've been walking around for twenty years!" In response to this, their new aquaintence gave another awkward chuckle.

Leone rolled her eyes and turned in the direction of the chapel. Platina took one more cautious glance at the man before following. Fortuna wrinkled her nose at the fact that he was now paying much more attention to Alicia than to her and headed that way as well.

"Let's go," Alicia said, "before they leave us behind."

"All right," Rufus said, and he smiled his first honest smile of the evening. Seeing all of them again, aside from the tearing in his heart each time Alicia smiled, was almost fun. As soon as he did that, he knew that this was not going to turn out well.