Rind, goddess First Class entered the great hall of Sessrumnir. She had been idle for a few days after the Angel Eater incident and was anxious to get back to work. Even the other Valkyries considered her a workaholic.

Brynhild met the purple haired goddess in her spacious office. There was a great view of the cityscape through the window behind her desk.

“Cappuchino? Espresso?” the leader of the Valkyries asked her friend.

“No thank you. I would prefer pomegranate juice, though,” Rind replied.

“So….how was Earth?”

“We prevailed but at a price. The Daimakaicho may not yet be done. I need to be on standby in case she tries any more treachery.”

“Fear not,” Brynhild said. “I have Thrud ready to go. I’m assigning you to a different task.”

Rind wasn’t too happy to hear that. She blamed herself for the last fiasco and wanted to make sure Belldandy and the others weren’t in any more danger.

“Could not Thrud have taken whatever task you’re giving me and leave me on her watch?”

“Sorry, but this mandate comes from Freya_sama herself.”

Rind’s lip curled. She had butted heads with the Efficiency Expert on more than one occasion. The combat goddess felt the latter had too many departments to oversee to actually know what really was going on in each one.

“Fine.What is this task?”

“Andvaranaut has fallen into mortal hands….”

“My role is to protect goddesses and Heaven, not interfere with matters on Earth,” Rind objected.

“Let me finish,” Brynhild snapped. “Throughout time, we have aided humans in various ways…”

“I am not qualified…” she began.

“You will take our chosen candidate and provide him the means of counteracting <i>Andvaranaut</i>,” continued the blonde tressed Valkyrie. She knew Rind could be headstrong, but her devotion to duty would win out.

“Where is this candidate?”

“We will send you to his location and you will start his training.”

“A human male?” Rind sighed. This was getting worse. Trouble had always befallen Valkyries in the past when they defied orders by overly helping mortal men. Brynhild herself had been punished a long time ago. “It will take a lot more than teaching a human battle techniques to prevail against a foe bearing Andvaranaut.”

Brynhild grinned at her comrade. She reached out and handed something she had been palming throughout the briefing.

Rind’s expression changed to surprise. “Draupnir,” she breathed. “This candidate is so worthy?”

“It’s up to you to make sure he is. Godspeed.”

The goddess of the axe stared at the shining ring in her hand incredulous.

Two Days Later

Burnout. As he drove fifteen miles an hour through the mall parking lot, that's what twenty five year old Daniel Rice felt both mentally and physically. He envisioned a warm king-sized bed and sleeping until he wasn't tired anymore. No alarm clocks, not having to rush into work eight hours after a double shift would have suited him just fine. Working eighty hours a week in a dead end job took its toll, making him forget what day it was, what time it was, made him teeter on the edge of sanity. Daniel worked in the lowly profession known as contract security, in other words, "rent-a- cop". He had no more power than the average citizen and less respect.

As he pulled the Jeep Cherokee to a tempory stop to drink his third cup of coffee in an hour, there was a shimmer of light that came from the driver's side window followed by the presence of another person.

"Mr Rice?" a serious, breathy voice asked.

He dropped the cup of coffee, almost spilling the entire contents in his lips. Luckily, most of it got on his lower leg then the floor. Still, it burned like hell.

Wincing, he looked over to see a lithe fair skinned woman with lavender/blueish hair and matching eyes. Three dots decorated her forehead, one each under her eyes. She wore an extravagantly tailored white jumpsuit like outfit and smelled of sweet jasmine.

Daniel reached for the radio knob to turn his blaring Linkin Park CD down.

"May I help you?" he asked, dumfounded at her presence. Perhaps he was so tired, he didn't realize she had entered his vehicle the normal way.

"No, the other way around," she answered matter of factly. "I am here to help you."

"Help me do mall security?" he asked. "Are you a newbie?"

"You protect people, I see," she noted, running a gloved hand over a pair of fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. "You watch over them."

"I collect a paycheck," he replied sourly. "Comes with the costume."

He pointed to his light blue uniform shirt with square metal bade and cheap nameplate.

"What you do is commendable."

Daniel sighed. "If you say so. But you have me at a disadvantage. Who are you? How do you know me?"

"I am Rind, Goddess of the Axe, First Class Special Catergory.."

"Are you an anime cosplayer or something?"

Her expression remained serious and stoic causing him to wonder if she was disturbed or setting him up for a practical joke. Disturbed she might be, but there was something about her that attracted him on many levels.

"I answered you already, Mr Rice. It may be hard to accept, but nonetheless is the truth."

"So you've come from the heavens to help me?" he asked incredulous. "Wait a minute, I got a email and a message on my answering machine from someone with your name. Was it you?"

"Yes, why didn't you reply?"

"There's all kinds of wackos on the internet these days," he explained.

"Well, I have come to mentor you as you have been chosen to a higher calling."

He felt more than skeptical. "Surely you jest."

Rind grabbed his arm. "I urge you to trust me. You, Daniel Rice have been selected to be a protector of your kind. These are troubling times, the need for a hero has arisen."

"A super hero?" he asked with a grin. "Pinch me now, I gotta wake up."

"I am serious,"she looked him straight in the eyes, her face only inches away.

"Sorry," he said, looking away from the intensity of her gaze. "But can you provide proof of your claim?"

She nodded and stuck her arm through the passenger window. It came through the driver's side and tapped him on the left shoulder. "Will this suffice?"

He had to admit she had seemingly materialized out of nowhere before to begin with.

"Okay, goddess Rind," he nodded warily at her. "I don't want everything on a need to know basis. Will you answer all my questions fully?"

"If it is relevant to your training," she replied.

"Hey Rice, what's your twenty?" a voice squawked over the radio.

"Lot 3F," he responded.

"Just makin' sure you're alive and well."

"I'm going to swing by the cinemas to make sure no one's loitering," he announced then turned back to Rind. "Will I have to be a working super hero like Spiderman or Superman?"

She didn't take his quip as a joke. "I think it would be best to keep your identity a secret. As far as keeping this job, do you truly want to?"

"In a pig's eye," he replied. "But what I'm worried about is compensation. I still have bills to pay."

"I will help you with your finances as I will be dwelling with you during my time here."

He stared open mouthed at her. That could have its drawbacks and its benefits. But looking at her longer only made him think of the benefits.

"I'll take off from work tomorrow, but I can't pack it in just yet," he said to her. "There's a lot of questions I need to ask."

"Well enough," she agreed.

"I get off duty in an hour. Will you rematerialize in my car at 23:05?"

"Of course."

He blinked once and then she was gone as quickly as she came. Things like this only happened in make believe, he thought to himself.

 Rind reappeared in Rice’s small studio apartment in the small village of Buchanan, New York. She didn’t have any belongings per se, being a goddess allowed her to conjure up whatever items she required. Never visiting America before, it intrigued her to find out how these people lived. Rice’s abode seemed Spartan; he slept on a futon which doubled as a sofa, coupled with a wooden adjustable support. She walked around the apartment examining a small nineteen inch televison, DVD/VHS player, bookcase filled with various works of non-fiction and fiction, and a small kitchen table with two mismatched chairs.

Rind noted a photo stuck to the refrigerator via magnet of Daniel and a dark skinned man posing with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Several unwashed dishes sat in the sink, a telltale sign of his busy schedule. She didn’t want to intrude further out of respect for his privacy; therefore she resorted to reading an editon of the local paper to pass the time.

Daniel turned in his keys and radio to his relief then walked out into the nearly empty mall parking lot to his beat up Dodge Neon. Once again he had completed an exhausting sixteen hour tour of duty and thanked his lucky stars that he was off the next day. The drive home would take about a half hour, and sometimes he was so spent that he would pull off the road and take a nap for as long as it took. As he turned the key in the ignition, his eyes glanced at the dashboard digital clock which read: 23:05. As if on cue, Rind materialized out of the windshield and onto his front seat. She shifted so she fit in the passenger side and buckled the safety belt. He noticed that instead of her white and blue battledress, she now wore a sweater and jeans.

“Are you going to teach me that travel method?” he asked. “It would sure save on gas.”

“Your license will be restricted to Earth so teleportation will not be included. I wouldn’t rule out supersonic flight,” she replied.

“I can’t teleport here to England if needed? I’m not talking about going to Alpha Centauri.” He hated how long it took to warm up his car. It was below freezing outside.

“Where?”

“Forget it,” he smiled. “Really, what powers are you going to give me?”

“I’ll determine that after initial testing,” the blue haired goddess responded.

“Okay, but not tonight. I’m so bushed, I plan on sleeping in till noon tomorrow!”

“You do keep rather long hours, I see,” she noted. “You look very fatigued, bloodshot eyes, for example.”

Daniel drove his car out of the winding parking lot and onto a ramp headed for Interstate 87, the New York State Thruway. Rind didn’t pay attention to the four story mall or the ensuing scenery out the window.

He wondered to himself how easy it was to talk to her. “How is it that I was chosen?”

“You were picked from a pool of candidates by one of my superiors.”

“There’s rank and file in Heaven?” he changed lanes to pass a slower motorist.

“Yes.”

“What do you do?”

“I am a goddess first class, special catergory, limited. I am a Valkyrie,” she answered, studying how he drove the vehicle. She had never been in one before.

“I’ve read about them. You choose the slain and work in Valhalla?”

“I belong to the combat division of Heaven and protect other goddesses.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” he smiled.

“We have differing duties from soldiers to armors to servers. I happen to work in Folkvang on occasion.”

“Freya’s hall?”

She nodded.

“Do you come to Earth a lot?”

“No, this world is very peaceful compared to the others I visit,” she said, glancing at the mess in the backseat. She intended to talk to him about cleanliness.

They crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge then headed up Route 9 through legendary Sleepy Hollow then Ossining and eventually Buchanan itself. Daniel lived in a studio apartment on the second floor of a building that housed a deli. He parked his car in the assigned space then got out and waited for her to follow him up a short flight of stairs.

“Well, this is my hole in the wall,” he told her.

Rind didn’t mention that she had been there earlier as she followed him in. He took off his uniform shirt and threw it in the open hamper.

“There’s not a lot of room here,” he continued apologetically. “I still have a few months left on the lease too.”

“I believe I said your financial matters would be taken care of,” her brow showed the slightest inclination of a scowl.

“All I’m saying is you deserve a better place than this dive,” he told her, preparing the futon for much needed sleep. After a moment’s thought, he offered it to her.

“I don’t need it, I’ll meditate most of the night while you rest.”

“Meditate? Suit yourself, I’m crashing and I’m crashing hard,” he gathered up a bunch of blankets and pulled them around himself then flopped onto the comfy mattress.

Rind turned off the wall light then took a position in the far corner.