"My name is Uruz. Goddess Second Class, Third Category,
Unlimited license."
Uruz took a careful look at Keiichi
and Belldandy as she introduced herself, as she sat in a kneeling position. Her
hands were clenched uncomfortably on her thighs, and her arms were drawn close
to her body. She was looking up at them from a slightly lowered head.
Keiichi wasn't that impressive, physically, Uruz thought.
Looking at him, he looked rather normal. Early 20s, messy black hair, short,
nothing truly distinctive about him except his height. But this was the
legendary Morisato Keiichi, whose exploits were heard throughout the Heavens in
all parts. Well, Uruz thought, I guess now I'll have a chance to see
why he's so special. She knew she would, what with everything going on
around them now.
"What brings you here, Uruz?" Belldandy
asked. Somehow, the appearance of a fifth Goddess in Keiichi's life didn't feel
good to her.
Uruz leaned forwards a little, bringing a
hand up to her mouth as if wondering how to best put it. But Keiichi and
Belldandy could guess what she was going to say.
"I've
gotten myself another wish." Keiichi mumbled. Uruz caught it. She nodded
vigorously.
"Yes, you did!" Uruz was beginning to look
excited now, forgetting about everything else for the moment. She was going to
grant his wish, and that was all that mattered. She was sure Keiichi was excited
too.
Keiichi slapped his forehead with a palm, and shook
his head. Uruz blinked at his apparently upset response.
"Seems like I've been getting nothing but wishes nowadays." He moaned.
Uruz was genuinely confused. In the past, the clients she had were always elated
and overjoyed to have this happen to them. Somehow, this didn't feel right for
her, to have a mortal actually find having a wish cumbersome. Belldandy was
obviously disturbed by Keiichi's reaction. Uruz could guess why.
"Keiichi-san...." Belldandy started. But Keiichi looked
up, and he wasn't happy.
"Leave me be." Was all Keiichi
said. Belldandy tried to touch his shoulder, to try something, but Keiichi
gently - not lovingly - brushed it off.
"Leave me be!"
Keiichi was sounding impatient. Belldandy looked at Keiichi once, and saw
nothing but blue and red. She looked at Uruz, who was getting the gist of what
was happening.
"Let's leave him alone for now,
Uruz." Belldandy told Uruz quietly.
"But.... he
hasn't asked for his wish yet!" Was Uruz's reply.
"Dear... I've not seen him this upset before." Truth was, Belldandy was
as distraught and upset herself as was Keiichi. She felt that sense of
uselessness creep back into herself. Uruz looked at Belldandy for a moment, then
nodded. They left the room quietly, and put a "Do Not Disturb" sign outside his
door.
"We need to talk." Belldandy said to Uruz. She
sounded upset.
Uruz wasn't going to refuse her.
* * *
Peorth was brooding. Sitting atop an aged tree, Peorth
brooded silently. Unusual for a Goddess of her vitality and personality, Peorth
could almost swear she could feel her simmering emotions emanate from her like a
black cloud. Inside her, she could feel something was hammering away, the
feeling unusual. She could guess what it was, but didn't want to admit it to
herself.
"Oh.... if only I had someone to talk
to." Peorth mused to herself.
That was when a small
heartbeat in her body responded. Peorth smiled to herself. Of course, she had
Gorgeous Rose, her Angel. They were inseperable, body and soul, and Peorth could
not count on anyone closer than Gorgeous Rose to listen to her and comfort her
and accompany her.
"Come out, Gorgeous Rose!" Peorth
commanded. A thorny rosevine appeared around her hand, and from that rosevine,
Gorgeous Rose appeared. Peorth looked at her beautiful Angel, and remembered
what Rose had done for her during her confrontation with Velsper.
Even now, that wing was blackened and charred at its tip,
the feathers burned. They would never be what they were again, but it wouldn't
matter.
Beauty was, as everyone knew, in the eye of the
beholder. Gorgeous Rose had proven this beauty, and more was her due than all
Peorth could give. However, Angels never came with strings attached. They were
closer than sisters, than lovers. They shared a soul, but that wouldn't be
enough to describe the beautiful relation between a God/Goddess and their Angel,
especially between Peorth and Gorgeous Rose.
When Gorgeous Rose appeared, she swept down to her
Goddess's side and held her shoulders, putting her head besides Peorth's, as if
she couldn't hear Peorth from any greater distance. Rose always knew everything
that Peorth went through, and was doing her best to comfort Peorth. Peorth put a
hand on one of Rose's hands, clutching it. Gorgeous Rose came to "sit" besides
Peorth, who was sitting hunched over, her chin in her other palm. She had never
read anything about these in all the romance mangas she had stashed in her room.
Most of them were Skuld's, but she'd forgotten about that little technicality.
"I guess I've been a dumb girl, hm? Gorgeous Rose? Silly
Goddess falling for a mortal."
Gorgeous Rose shook her
head, and furrowed her brows together in exasperation. She looked like she was
pouting too. Peorth sighed, but smiled sadly as she looked to her side.
"You know as well as I do, I should've expected something
like this a long time ago."
Rose sighed silently. Angels
were mute, but they always knew how to bring the message across. Peorth chuckled
softly. She felt like her mother was nagging her for brooding over things like
this when she had better things to do. If she had a mother.
"But you're right, Rose. I guess if I can't win his
heart, I can admire him from afar."
Rose looked at Peorth
disapprovingly. Peorth raised an eyebrow.
"What is it,
Gorgeous Rose? You don't approve?"
Gorgeous Rose nodded.
"Then what would you recommend?"
Gorgeous Rose began to act like she was flirting with Peorth. Peorth got the
idea quickly enough.
"Oh, you're trying to tell me if I
can't be his sweetheart, I can be the next best thing?"
Gorgeous Rose nodded. Peorth didn't like being "the next best thing", but she
wasn't going to waste the week just brooding. She could solve the other problems
later. With a deep breath, Peorth exhaled loudly. That strange feeling was gone,
leaving behind just a slight tingling. Peorth felt a lot better now, and
dismissed Gorgeous Rose. She had a new agenda in mind. And she left her place at
the top of the tree, with that agenda in mind.
She just hoped she wouldn't regret it.
* * *
"....so you can guess why we've been hoping for some time
alone."
Belldandy was in the guest's lobby with Uruz, and
they were having a talk. It was late, and nobody else was up at this time of
night, so they had all the privacy they needed. Uruz was listening intently to
Belldandy's side of their story so far, and had found that gossip, even in the
Heavens, were normally exaggerated. Uruz had heard all of the good things the
famous couple had been through together, had heard all the glorified tales of
what they did. She never heard the strings that came with those stories, like
how Belldandy had very nearly died defending Keiichi when he was the Lord of
Terror, of how much trouble she had brought to him by attracting Mara's
attention (which, Uruz thought, was pessimistic even from Belldandy's own point
of view), and about the pain they went through through thick and thin.
Uruz was impressed. Freya had told her nothing about the
way these relations worked out, and Uruz was pretty inexperienced in this field.
Apparently, Belldandy and Keiichi had broken all the rules there were to break.
Even Hercules didn't cause this much controversy when he was born as a result of
Zeus and some mortal's affair. But that was because Zeus had treated the mortal
woman as a one night stand. This was totally different, this was a relation
built to last. Uruz wondered if the Almighty had a hand in this.
Everything was quiet for an indefinite period of time.
Both parties thought in silence about what they wanted to say, but it was silent
for a long time, and the silence was not peaceful at all.
Belldandy had her own demons to work out. She knew Keiichi was likely to be in a
bad mood for quite a while to come, probably because of guilt, probably because
of irritation at having all his perfect vacation plans shot straight to Hell.
She couldn't do a thing about it, except wait, and it was unbearable.
Ah... she thought. I shouldn't have been so hasty. She was feeling
guilty. Maybe Peorth wouldn't have run off hurt like that. Belldandy knew
Keiichi was a caring person and nice guy, almost to a fault at times. Peorth's
distress was most definitely one of the reasons for his mood right now.
Belldandy pondered again.
* * *
Inside his room, Keiichi was brooding. Lying on the floor,
staring at the ceiling, Keiichi just couldn't stay angry very long. He thought
staying angry was stupid. It wouldn't solve anything.
And
solving his dilemma was his top priority now. Keiichi knew he couldn't leave
Belldandy like that, he knew she'd feel hurt. He couldn't have more people
feeling hurt than he could help. He'd always liked Peorth, but as a good friend.
He owed her his life too, for saving him from Velsper. Peorth was a little
excessive in her methods, he knew. But he blamed himself for being so weak when
it came to trying to tell her gently that he would be very happy if they could
just be good friends. He didn't like hurting her in even that important way.
Actually, the second time he had met Peorth, she had appeared to have come to
terms with their relationship. Apparently though, Peorth still held a small
flame for him. He was flattered though. He didn't think he was that special, and
yet he had two Goddesses who wanted him, two others living with him because they
thought he was 'interesting', and was the envy of the school because he had the
school Belle as his girlfriend and very likely fiancee. (A lot of members of
Belldandy's fan club had broken down when the word had spread that Belldandy was
most definitely Keiichi's.)
Keiichi was just worried now.
He thought to go and find Belldandy and explain things to her. Maybe they could
count on this Uruz to help them find Peorth and hope she still wasn't angry.
Hope. It had kept him and Belldandy together for a long
time. He hoped it would still.
* * *
Mara wasn't at all happy. Senbee was, his Happy level was
as high as it was ever likely to go, but not Mara's. Her mood was fouler than
the most polluted waters on Earth. For a lot of reasons.
First of all, she had found that almost all the hot springs were within temple
grounds and the only ones that weren't were already occupied. (She preferred
private hot baths.) That was bad enough. Then she had been woken up from the
middle of her sleep. She was dead tired, and this didn't help. Then she had to
leave the Lodge on a hunch by Senbee that something bad would happen if they
stayed. There went her holidays. Now, for a person who was hoping to have a
simple holiday, this wouldn't have been all bad, because someone was at least
willing to pay for their lodgings.
But Mara wasn't a
person, she was a demoness. A very pissed off one at that. She was going to
cause trouble now, because she felt the need to, and she knew who she'd cause it
for.
But for now, she had to find another hot springs
resort. She needed all her energy.
* * *
It was misty. No, it was dusty, mist wasn't brown. When
it had cleared, Skuld looked around. She didn't like what she saw. The place was
in shambles, and those shambles looked awfully familiar.
Skuld realized she was sitting in a pile of wooden
splinters like so much junk. But there was more than junk to see, all around
her, the temple grounds were shattered beyond recognition.
So how did she recognize where she was?
She recognized the inventions all around her, some
intact, most broken and in pieces. She knew she had been in her room when it
took place. She didn't know what.
It had sounded
like a crack of thunder, then a bluish white flare, and all was dark.
Skuld was scared. She didn't know who else was in the
rubble. She was glad, at least, to find Banpei still in one piece and
operational. He was blackened, but that didn't bother him. Skuld sent him out to
sift through the rubble and search for survivors.
She knew Belldandy and Urd would be all right, it was Keiichi she was worried
about. Banpei beeped at her. Skuld looked.
Skuld woke up suddenly. That wasn't a good feeling. Skuld knew it, her stomach probably felt the same. It was knotting up. Skuld clutched at her Angel egg, which held Noble Scarlet, her Angel. It was fast becoming a habit when Skuld needed some reassurance that all was right with the world. Her hands were clammy, and cold. Her chest felt strangely warm though, so Skuld had to wonder if Noble Scarlet was behind that. But she shrugged it off, body extremities tended to feel cold first.
At least Kewl-Aid kun was working. Working against the laws of thermodynamics, Kewl-Aid kun emitted a sort of non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and cheaply produced chemical mist (invented by Skuld) that absorbed miniscule amuonts of heat from anything it touched, thus producing a cooling effect. It wouldn't stick to any surface, and thus no uncomfortable condensation would take place. The mist would eventually decompose and release all accumulated heat energy again in doing so, but it wouldn't decompose until it left the temple and entered the atmosphere. People could breathe it in too, so it comfortably cooled their bodies for long periods of time outdoors. (Skuld assured Urd it wouldn't turn them into popsicles from within, since it left the body quickly.)
But Skuld still had that bad feeling that came with her dream. Being Goddesses of Time didn't only entail system maintainence so records could be kept (The Past), events recorded and altered as needed when they occured (The Present), or all variables factored into the possibilities they would turn into (The Future), it also came with these weird dreams and powers Skuld didn't understand yet. Belldandy and Urd refused to (or couldn't) talk about them, and Skuld knew she'd discover in time. She already knew the responsibility that came with her job, but still....
Outside, Urd was holding some drunken alcoholic's party with a bunch of drinking partners she'd recruited from Nekomi Tech. She was singing wildly and the smell of alcohol wafted into Skuld's room. Skuld wrinkled her nose, turned in her sheets so that she was chest down on the floor, and covered her head with the pillow so the noise was muffled out. Then Skuld tried to go back to sleep with visions of ice cream in her head, which helped. She was out cold in seconds.
* * *
Keiichi was carefully padding his way down to the guest
lobby in slippers, hoping he wouldn't disturb Belldandy and Uruz's Goddess to
Goddess talk. He had thought for a while about how to explain to Belldandy about
his mood (which he really didn't think was necessary, since Belldandy always
understood him), and hoped he wouldn't mess up. Not with this Goddess called
Uruz who was almost worshipping him as some legend in the Heavens. Imagine that,
a mortal being worshipped by a Goddess. Keiichi nearly laughed himself silly at
the blasphemous thought. Apparently though, their talk had finished. Keiichi
couldn't hear a thing as he neared the guest lobby. What he did see was good
enough. Uruz and Belldandy were looking at each other and smiling like sisters,
with some sort of understanding reached between them. When they hadn't returned
after what seemed like hours, Keiichi thought he'd go to them instead. They had
counted on that.
"There he is." Uruz said. Belldandy
turned to look. She was her old self again, thank the Heavens.
"Hello, Keiichi-san." Belldandy said with quiet
affection. She motioned to the seat beside her. Keiichi took it. He had
rehearsed his apologies earlier, and hoped it sounded sincere. He certainly was.
Belldandy shifted herself to sit a little closer to Keiichi, as Uruz leaned
forwards in her seat in a comfortable gesture.
"Belldandy, Uruz, I-" Keiichi started. The two of them were looking at him all
of a sudden. Uruz was smiling a pleasant smile, as if she knew something about
him he himself didn't know about. Keiichi swallowed uncomfortably. He would've
been more comfortable if Urd and Skuld were in front of him, giving him killer
glares, rather than this stranger, looking pleasantly at him as if she were his
best friend.
He wouldn't mind it if that were true. But
as it was, Keiichi didn't know half a thing about Uruz yet, except that she
looked as young as Skuld and dressed like Peorth.
"Yes,
Keiichi-san?" Belldandy urged. "Don't worry, Uruz won't mind." Belldandy was
wearing that same smile as Uruz. Keiichi was definitely unnerved. But as they
said, the show must go on.
"I'm sorry for that burst of
anger just now." Keiichi said. There, that wasn't so bad, a little Keiichi
inside of him said. You didn't regret doing that, did you? Suddenly, Keiichi
thought of what Megumi would say if she saw this right now.
* * *
Megumi sneezed in her sleep just as she was dreaming about "Keiichan" marrying Belldandy, then sniffled and shifted.
* * *
Belldandy and Uruz had been waiting for Keiichi to come in
for almost an hour after they had finished their talk. It was midnight, but the
Goddesses knew Keiichi wouldn't be asleep yet. And as it was, Keiichi came in
almost on cue.
Belldandy was worried that Keiichi would
still be angry, but when he had come in, he was looking more apologetic and
embarassed than angry. Belldandy's heart calmed in that instant. She and Uruz
had talked about their lives for quite a while, Belldandy catching up on what
was going on in the Heavens while Uruz listened to stories about their exploits
on Earth. The two shared an unspoken knowledge that Keiichi wasn't the sort to
get angry and stay that way, he wasn't so petty. That had proven itself when
Keiichi came in.
Uruz was getting more and more intruiged
by Keiichi at the moment. This person definitely had a lot more to him than met
the eye. Uruz felt happy, for some reason, just by being near this couple. Uruz
was suddenly grateful to Peorth for letting her take Keiichi's wish. Which
brought up that matter.
Just as Keiichi finished with his
apology, Uruz suddenly stood up.
"Ara...! That reminds
me! Keiichi-san?"
Keiichi sat up straight and looked at
Uruz. She had the eagerness and energy that reminded him of Skuld, outside of
her age. Then he remembered the wish. He groaned. Belldandy was quiet. Uruz knew
the Keiichi had thought of it too. But Uruz had other ideas.
"Don't worry, I won't grant your wish just yet,
Keiichi-san." Uruz said, cheerily. She was grinning, with her hands behind her
back. She leaned forwards a little.
"I'll be waiting
until you're ready though." She whispered. That sounded very, very inviting.
Uruz stood up again and smiled cheerily, as if totally oblivious to what she had
suggested in her voice.
"Until then!" Uruz waved at
Keiichi and started walking off. Keiichi was too tired to wonder where Uruz was
going off to. He just wanted a good night's sleep now.
* * *
Uruz was finally beginning to understand why Belldandy
loved Keiichi so much. He had an attitude that was refreshing. Most men (and
Gods) tended to either hide their feelings behind some facade of machoism or
became overapologetic. There weren't as many men as Keiichi that were sincere
enough to apologize, and not sound overbearing. Keiichi was also humble in his
own way, his body language had told her that. He was also honest too. The pride
Belldandy had taken in describing his actions to her told her that much. But
still, Uruz wasn't into romances. Yet.
She was walking
out the main entrance when she nearly bumped into someone.
"Oh! Sorry!" Was all Uruz could say when the form
appeared from out of the darkness.
"Uruz?" It was
Peorth's voice.
"Peorth?" Uruz looked up. It was. Uruz
beamed.
"One-sama!" She cried happily. Peorth didn't look
angry or hurt anymore. But Uruz knew she had something up her obviously
nonexistent sleeves.
"Is Keiichi feeling better?" Peorth
sounded concerned. That wasn't normally like her, she'd normally be bubbling
over him.
Uruz nodded. Peorth smiled.
"I've got something in mind, Uruz." Uruz knew it would
come. "We need to talk."
Uruz wouldn't refuse her,
either.
* * *
After watching Uruz disappear from around the corner,
Keiichi stood up and gently took Belldandy's hand into his.
"Belldandy?" Belldandy had been watching the proceedings
quietly all along, letting Keiichi handle this by himself. Now that that had
been resolved, Belldandy was paying full attention to Keiichi again.
"Yes, Keiichi-san?" Belldandy voice was full of hope and
joy again. And being held by the hand by Keiichi brought back other memories.
"Let's go to bed."
*blink* *blink*
Keiichi realized Belldandy was staring at him, blinking
and blushing. The two stood there for a moment before Keiichi realized what he
had said. He was an immediate flurry of action.
"Ah, ano!
No no no! Belldandy! I just meant I was tired and I wanted some sleep! I thought
you'd like to get some too! Ah ha ha ha, haa haa, ha...." Keiichi was scratching
the back of his head now and laughing nevously. Belldandy put her fingers to her
mouth and started giggling too. She'd never felt so happy before, and the sight
of Keiichi made her very amused.
Ah yes... all was right
with the world again.
{End of Chapter 6}
{Chapter
7 : Singularity and Companionship}