{Chapter 10 : Seeing the pain, feeling the words}
"Theology, sir, is a fortress; No crack in a fortress may be accounted small."
- Reverend John Hale, The Crucible by Arthur Miller

 "Spirits of Form and Spirits of Life-"
 "-Bring this temple back from its demise-"
 "-Listen to me, an effort gone awry-"
 "-Ruined this proudness and made things sore to mine eyes-"
 "-Regain the former glory, once more-"
 "-Spirits, revive!"

    With a combined effort from Peorth and Belldandy, the two of them restored the destroyed temple as Keiichi, Skuld and Urd watched on. Keiichi remembered the first time Belldandy had done this, all by herself. But then, she had her seals undone. This time, she was only doing it with one elevenths of the power available to her. It was understandable then, that Belldandy was exhausted when the task was over, as was Peorth. The two of them required support when they fininshed with their spell, and Keiichi and Skuld had obliged. Slinging arms over their shoulders, Skuld and Keiichi helped Peorth and Belldandy into the newly restored temple. But as the foursome entered the temple, Urd didn't follow. She was looking around instead. It was dark, but she had no intention of seeing anything. Something felt wrong here, something didn't belong.
    "Strange." Urd said to herself. "Something strange..."
    But Urd couldn't put a finger on the unusually queasy feeling that ran up from her toes to her stomach, chest and fingers, she just felt it. She would have to look for it later.
    "Aaaah, what a day...." Urd stretched, arms locked together as she stretched her body and yawned. "Get some sleep, get some sleep....." She went into the temple just as the first drops of rain started to fall.

*     *     *

    In the Heavens, Uruz was standing before a podium, a figure gracing it.
    Of course, there was only one person in the Heavens, on Earth, in the Underworld, or just about anywhere in this Universe who radiated such power, grace, and just about every virtue there was to be had. Uruz was standing before the Almighty, and she was scared.
    Somehow, though, the Almighty never let His full features be known. Perhaps He'd let people see the rest of Him, maybe even a portion of His face, but nobody ever saw His entire face. That was the scary part, nobody could. He was perpetually in the right position to hide His features, be that by shadow or by viewing angle, but nobody could mistake it when He set His eyes upon someone. You could feel it.
    Flanking her were Mars and Thor, possibly the only two Gods who could restrain her if she decided to go out of control. The Almighty was amused to discover Uruz had over-matched and matched them in combat respectively. Obviously strength wasn't all that mattered to Uruz.
    Uruz swallowed. The Almighty was standing before her, and she had nothing to say. She was small. She was shivering.
    "Uruz, you understand that you have faulted in your duties."
    "Yes, Father."
    "And in doing so, you have caused something unforseen and possibly unpleasant to the client, Morisato Keiichi."
    "Yes, Father."
    Uruz was beginning to get sick of that name. Keiichi.
    "Now, while he is a most unusual mortal, Keiichi," The Almighty continued. "I wish to know what went wrong. It was not him."
    Well, whatever the Almighty said was final, so if He said it wasn't Keiichi, it wasn't Keiichi. Uruz shivered a little, trying to say something.
    "It was... my fault." Uruz admitted. Her mind was blank to anything else but reactions.
    "I shall investigate the matter. Until then, Uruz, you are temporarily demoted to Goddess Third Class, First Category, on Probational license. You will work on debugging until I say so otherwise."
    Uruz swallowed. She had expected worse. Thank Him for small favours. She went to one knee, still looking down.
    "Thank you, Father."
    "Arise. And do not worry. I shall find the cause."
    Uruz felt a little warmer inside. That eased her conscience a little.
    "Thank you.... Father."

*     *     *

    Peorth had heard stories from the other three Goddesses about the time Keiichi had been experimenting with Urd's medicines to find a suitable one for Belldandy, and had ended up with a woman's figure, chest and hair. She'd also heard how Skuld had dressed Keiichi up. She didn't believe most of it until now.
    "WAaaahaahaahaahaa!" Peorth was guffawing, clutching her stomach. Keiichi just looked so.... so.... cute! She couldn't control herself, Peorth was having the time of her life now.
    Keiichi just looked on, dismayed. 'He' couldn't believe Peorth was laughing at 'his' plight! She was supposed to be the one who liked 'him', support 'him', and maybe still feel a little guilty over what had happened a few hours ago.
    "Peorth!" Keiichi whined, trying to get her to stop. Peorth stopped for a while, wiping away some tears. She looked at Keiichi, 'his' dismayed expression, and 'his' voice.
    It was that voice. Peorth sniggered and started laughing all over again, rolling on the floor. It just wouldn't suit Keiichi, even in a thousand years. Keiichi looked to Belldandy, but she couldn't do anything about Peorth's sense of humour.
    "Sorry, Keiichi-san..." Belldandy started.
    "Hey hey hey, what's all the commotion about?" Urd complained as she came in.
    And just as she stepped into the room, lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and the rain came down full force. Talk about flashy entrances.
    Urd walked into the tea room. Peorth, Belldandy, Keiichi-chan and Skuld were sitting inside. Peorth was on the floor, still trying to control herself. Urd looked at Keiichi.
    Keiichi-chan? Since when did she think of 'him' as that?
    It had to be because Urd finally had the time to notice Keiichi's plight. When 'he' was cleaned up and dressed properly, Keiichi looked a more pleasant sight. Skuld was still sulking because she didn't get to dress Keiichi up this time, for which Keiichi had thanked the Powers That Be. However, it had been Belldandy who'd insisted on dressing him up now (sans makeup), for which Keiichi wouldn't complain. Well, Keiichi couldn't complain. Belldandy had decked 'him' out in one of her own very soft and cottony yellowish long-sleeved turtleneck sweaters (lots of bruises everywhere to cover, she said), and a light blue frock to go with it. Belldandy said the light, creamy colours suited Keiichi. Keiichi had insisted on pants, but Belldandy would have none of it.
    Urd joined Peorth on the floor in their laughing marathon.
    "Haa haa haa haaaa! Oooh! You're just so..... cuuuuuuute, Keiichi-chan!" Urd was pounding the floor, arms weak from laughing. Keiichi just sat there, resigned to 'his' fate as the butt of everyone's joke. Belldandy was trying to console 'him', sitting besides 'him, with her hands on 'his' shoulder.
    "Don't worry, Keiichi-san. I'm sure this is only transitionary. The Almighty will do something about this."
    Keiichi nodded at Belldandy, grateful for her efforts.
    "Thanks, Belldandy. I couldn't wish for anything more."

    *riiiiing* *riiiing*

    "I'll get it!" Belldandy said. Peorth and Urd had stopped laughing, finally, when the phone rang. They watched and listened intently as Belldandy picked up the phone.

    "Hai, moshi moshi? This is the Morisato's home." Belldandy's eyes widened slightly when she heard who was on the other line. Everyone could easily guess.
    Belldandy listened to the other side for a while, nodding once every so often and saying something they couldn't make out. Then a few minutes later, Belldandy said goodbye to the Person on the other side and put down the phone. She made her way back to Keiichi, a little distracted. Her eyebrows were furrowed slightly, she was looking down with her eyelids half closed, and her mouth was tightened at the edges.
    "What did He say?" Skuld asked. Urd and Peorth were watching Belldandy, as was Keiichi. Belldandy sat down slowly, looking at the table.
    "The Almighty said that Keiichi's wish did get through, although somehow, the data was corrupted. They don't know the specifics of the wish because of that, but Yggdrasil registered and approved it. The contract was made. It can't be undone now."
    Belldandy turned to face Keiichi.
    "Which means, Keiichi-san...."
    Keiichi groaned. Everyone knew what that meant.
    "You're stuck until they manage to find out what went wrong and fix it."

*     *     *

    Mara was enjoying a bath in a hot spring, hot towel on her head.
    "Aaah, this is the life!" Mara said.
    Mara had gone back to report on her job completion. The lower council in charge of this had immediately booked Mara a one week stay at the best hot springs resort they could find on the Mortal realm, and sent her there with everything she needed. At least something had gone right, for once.
    "Bring on the wine!" Mara yelled. Then she realized it was almost midnight, and nobody would be awake. She cursed and got out.
    "Gotta go get it myself. The service around here....."

*     *     *

    ".........." Was all Keiichi said. Everyone in the temple was pondering. They were thinking of ways to restore Keiichi's.... manhood..... during this time. When Belldandy had cleaned up, bandaged and dressed Keiichi, she'd found 'his' change was a lot more complete than that first time. Keiichi wasn't all too happy about it. Nobody would, actually. And Keiichi was absolutely embarrassed to see 'himself' in the mirror.
    After a long, tense wait with the pattering of rain to keep them company, Urd perked up first, pounding the base of her right fist into her left palm. Everyone looked up at her.
    "I got it! I'll use my medicines!" Urd exclaimed. "They'll work!" And then Urd was off, congratulating herself on her brilliance. Skuld looked on disapprovingly after Urd.
    "She'll go and concoct something that'd probably make the change permanent!" Skuld snided. "I'd better go and make sure she doesn't." And with that, Skuld took off after Urd. Belldandy and Peorth thought Skuld didn't know a thing about chemistry?
    And then there were three.
    "How am I gonna explain this to anyone if they see me like this....?" Keiichi groaned, digging her hands through her hair. Well, nobody could help it, they had to refer to Keiichi this way for the moment, however uncomfortable it felt. "Everyone's gonna say I'm a pervert!"
    Belldandy and Peorth exchanged looks, worried because that might actually be true. Urd came back with Skuld in tow, Urd looking rather disbelieving and Skuld rather relieved. Urd sat down heavily with a thump and heaved a big, heavy, sigh.
    "I don't believe it. All my medicines are totally mixed up, it's going to take me weeks to sort them out!" Urd moaned. Belldandy and Peorth looked at each other again. Nobody dared to mess with Urd's medicines, but nobody knew what medicine was what either. Belldandy and Peorth had tried, but they were clueless. Skuld looked happy.
    "At least you'll spend your time doing something constructive!" Skuld tittered. Urd glared at her.
    "And I suppose you have something that works?" Urd asked, dangerously. Skuld nodded.
    "Of course! I'm a genius, remember?" Skuld snapped her fingers, and the temple floor shook as something mechanical moved. It moved right into the tea room's entrance.
    "Introducing : RoboKeiichi, Mark I!" Skuld proudly announced. Keiichi stared.
    The metal mass standing in front of them was about maybe half again as tall as Keiichi, a city map of wires, tubes, gears, metal meshing, and what-have-yous. The face looked skeletal, like the robot in some movie Keiichi had watched a while back starring some guy whose name was impossible to spell after the 'Arnold' part. Keiichi shuddered at the thought of having a face even his mom wouldn't love.
    "........what's that?" Keiichi asked rhetorically, pointing. Everyone knew, of course.
    Skuld smiled happily, little swirly crayon suns appearing all around her head as she explained with pride with a finger in the air.
    "It's a cyborg body! I'll just take your brain out, put it in my newly developed brain sustenance, preserving and protective glass casing, and put that in this body for the time being, and then give it some synthetic skin until this issue is resolved and your body goes back to normal!" Skuld said, as casually as if she were discussing about going to an ice-cream parlour.
    Silence.
    Sweatdrops and forced smiles.
    Skuld held that hopeful look for a moment.
    Then she slumped, her smile reversed on her face.
    "It won't work." Skuld sighed, dejectedly, and snapped her fingers again. The body turned to return to her room, then suddenly sparked, and went haywire. It ran out the temple in the direction of Urd's room, in a straight line. Urd was screaming about her medicines.
    "Aaaaaaah! RoboKeiichi Mark I kun!" Skuld yelled. She ran after it. "It's gone haywire!"
    "Of course it has!" Urd yelled, following Skuld. "It's headed for MY room!"
    Keiichi heaved a sigh of relief.
    Minutes later, some muffled bangs and thunderclaps were heard, and Skuld and Urd came back wet, charred and with mechanical bits all over them, although none the worse for the wear.
    "Sorry, had to bomb the thing into submission. Just wouldn't stop running, threw Banpei-kun into the wall." Skuld explained as she sat down at the table as if nothing had happened. Urd brushed herself off and looked down at Skuld as she sat upright, arms crossed. Her head was slightly raised, and Urd didn't look all too happy.
    "Scary girl." Urd commented. "I don't believe you, my sister, could create something as unreliable and stupid as that."
    "Hey!" Skuld retorted, elbowing Urd in the ribs.
    "Hey!" Urd replied, using her elbow to grind Skuld's head.
    "Hey! That's enough!" Keiichi yelled, slamming her hands on the table. Now that her voice had cleared up, she sounded exactly like Belldandy, only louder. Everyone wondered if that was part of the awry wish's effect.
    And Keiichi winced, painfully. Belldandy and Peorth might've cast their healing spells, but freshly mended broken bones and sprained joints still hurt big time. Keiichi hid it as well as she could, but nobody missed it.
    Then suddenly, Belldandy perked up. She had a finger pointed skywards, and she had that jolly look that comes when you hear that you've struck the lottery.
    "What about that spell, Peorth?" Belldandy suggested. Keiichi remembered that spell Peorth had used on... Uruz. Hope came back to her.
    Peorth shook her head.
    "Won't do. Don't you remember the Ultimate Force? It's been working since U...that wish was made." Peorth carefully avoided mentioning Uruz's name. It made Peorth wince a little.
    Everyone nodded sadly. They all knew what the Ultimate Force could do. Keiichi felt the hope pack its bags and leave.
    "We don't know what was registered in the wish, so we don't know how and when the Ultimate Force will work," Peorth reasoned. "And because of that, we can only try to deduce."
    Everyone nodded. Peorth started again.
    "So far, we can guess all attempts to make Keiichi a guy again-" Peorth snuck a look at Keiichi's chest, just to make sure it was still as it was. "-will fail, and all attempts to find a suitable replacement will also fail." Everyone nodded again.
    "So what else can we do to find out what the Ultimate Force covers?" Urd asked.
    Belldandy, Peorth and Skuld looked at each other.
    "Wait and see." They said in unison.
    "Or experiement." Keiichi muttered.
    Urd looked at him. And grinned.
    "Uh oh."

*     *     *

    Uruz had to concentrate on smashing bugs. That was all she was qualified to do right now. That was all she could do. Swinging hard, Uruz took her anger out on the last remaining bug in Yggdrasil, and power to the nightlife areas of the Heavens came back on.
    "Phew!" Uruz wheezed, wiping her forehead. She'd been pounding Bugs into greasy spots the whole night, and needed a break. Those bug-eyed bugs were tough to hit. She trudged out into the office area where she used to work - don't remind yourself! Uruz chided herself - and sat down against the most convenient wall. Her mood had mellowed out considerably after that meeting with the Almighty, but Uruz could not get over what she'd done. It still throbbed very unsettlingly in her chest like a hand pounding from the inside. But at least the Almighty would personally look into it. She had that much to thank for.
    "Look, it's Uruz." Someone whispered. Two young office clerks passed by, holding files and data rods. One was whispering to the other, but Uruz could still hear it clearly.
    "The one who messed up the wish?"
    "Yes."
    "Never let a Second Class Goddess do a First Class's job."
    "Yeah. Someone down the line must've made a mistake recommending Uruz for Third Category."
    "I concur. Hey, she's watching. Shh!"
    Uruz stared at the two as they passed by her, avoiding her gaze. Uruz sighed.
    Everyone had been talking about Uruz now, about the failed wish, about the really bad things that had happened afterwards. The worst thing was that she'd done something unintentionally bad to her client, which was a really big taboo up here in the Wish Granting department. And gossip wasn't confined to the Earth Otasuke Centre, it'd spread Heavenwide. Everyone was gossiping about her now, behind her back, in her face, loudly, whisperingly, brazenly, sympathetically. Uruz might have been forgiven by the Almighty, but the others were a fickle bunch.
    The only one who refused to say anything about Uruz was Freya.
    Uruz wanted to scream at them and tell them she didn't mean it, that it was an accident, that she had done her best, that it was damned inconsiderate of them to even talk about her at all.
    But nothing would work when the Gossip got around.
    Uruz considered paying the God of Gossip a visit, but decided against it. He didn't start it, and Gods and Goddesses didn't play with the fates of the other Gods and Goddesses if they could help it.
    Except Uruz's.
    Always her.
    Uruz shook her thoughts off as an announcement about bugs in sector A-147-JFK-332 was made. She got up tiredly and made her way there, passing several other office staff on errands.
    "Should she even be allowed to debug? For all we know, she might...."
    The gossip would just have to wait.
    Uruz had a job to do, and she swore she'd do it right for once, even if it meant losing her Goddesshood altogether.

*     *     *

    At the resort, Megumi looked out the window just as it started to pour. It was muffled, but Megumi knew it was loud. Thunder kept crashing and booming nonstop, and the lightning displays reminded her of a press conference with all the cameras going off all the time. She sighed, resting her head on a palm. She was sitting on the bed in her room, facing the window.
    "Mou.... I wonder what Keiichan's doing now?" Megumi sighed. So far, her stay here wasn't all too good. She'd discovered that Tamiya and the rest of the Auto-Club was here, along with Chihiro. They'd tried dragging Megumi, and then her friends with her, to all their drinking parties and stranger. Although Tamiya did let them go if they didn't want to go, Megumi's mood was considerably dampened by the prospect that their holiday plans would be tampered with.
    Speaking of which, it was a dry summer. It didn't rain like this, it wasn't supposed to.
    But Megumi wasn't going to let small things like these ruin her holiday. She'd planned to go swimming and sunbathing with her friends the next day, and then maybe some cycling after that if they could. Maybe even fishing. She could rig up something from Ootaki's stores. He carried entire garages in those jackets of his.
    "Ah... Keiichan.... you must be enjoying yourself with Belldandy somewhere now..." Megumi said, dreamily. She had yet to find someone to go steady with, but she was still young. She hoped she'd meet her Prince Charming like Keiichi, because of a wrong number to someone who happened to study at the same university. School romances were always fun. She grinned lopsidedly, then tried to get some sleep.

*     *     *

    "Ah! Urd! No! Hey! Whoa! Heeeey!" Keiichi was busy trying to avoid Urd's attacks. Urd was checking to see if the Ultimate Force covered hurt, injuries, grevious maulings, things along the physical violence side. Keiichi was obviously doing a good job of keeping herself healthy as Urd tried a few lightning bolts, whips and a few Skuld bombs she had pilfered off Skuld. Belldandy and the rest watched as Keiichi and Urd ran circles around the room. Urd was obviously enjoying herself.
    "Aw, come on, Keiichi!" Urd taunted. "I'm sure the Ultimate Force is protecting you!" And prepared a lightning bolt. Belldandy watched on. She didn't seem to be doing much, for some reason or another.
    "Speak for yourself, Urd!" Keiichi yelled, on the opposite side of the table, panting. "I'd rather wait and see what the Ultimate Force DOES cover!"
    Urd sighed. The electricity crawling up and down her hand faded, and Urd looked a little dejected. She shrugged.
    "Ah well, have it your way, Keiichi." Urd said. Then she yawned, loud.
    "I'm going to bed. Oyasumi." Urd floated off, groggily, changing clothes in mid-flight. Keiichi covered her eyes as Urd did so, and took a seat besides Belldandy.
    "Oyasumi, one-san." Belldandy bade as Urd disappeared. That left Skuld, Peorth, Keiichi and herself. Skuld looked like she could nod off herself.
    "Skuld? It's late, you should be going to bed." Belldandy prompted. Skuld shook her head.
    "Don't want to, yet. And don't treat me like a child!" Skuld retorted. "Belldandy one-san, I just want to see how things work out." Skuld very much sounded like the little girl who didn't want to go to bed, mischevious and wilful. Belldandy smiled.
    "It'll be a while, Skuld. We're all tired, but you really look tired." Belldandy said, trying a different tactic. "You can get some rest, we'll fill you in."
    Skuld nodded without an argument this time, then trudged off, rubbing her eyes. Peorth watched as Skuld disappeared. Then she got up. Belldandy and Keiichi looked.
    "Peorth?" They asked together. They sounded almost like stereo Belldandys/ies.
    "I have to go," Peorth said. "I've already found out what happened, and I need to make a report. Besides, everything's fine now, you don't need me." Peorth said. Belldandy was fairly taken aback, Peorth had never underestimated her own importance before. Peorth smiled slightly, lopsidedly.
    "Besides, I wouldn't want to disturb you and Keiichi darling. Take care now."
    With that, Peorth shimmered, and disappeared altogether.
    Keiichi watched for a moment where Peorth disappeared. She sighed.
    "Well, we can't do much now."
    Belldandy nodded slightly, slightly concerned, but gladly. At least Keiichi was all right, for the moment.
    "Then.... oyasumi nasai.... Keiichi-san." Belldandy bade. Belldandy's room was the Tea Room while Keiichi had her own room. Somehow, Belldandy refused to move in with the others. She said she could sleep in the Tea Room. (oh, yeah, Oyasumi means good night.) Keiichi nodded, then stood up. Belldandy remembered that Keiichi still had short hair, which gave her that boyish look. Maybe they could still hide Keiichi's predicament for the moment. But why?
    "Yeah, oyasumi, Belldandy." Keiichi said, but a little unsure of what else to do. Somehow, there was that feeling...
    Keiichi then turned around, and opened the door. Belldandy watched as Keiichi slid the door close behind her.
    "Ato...." Belldandy felt uncomfortable. There was something missing. She couldn't put a finger on it.
    "Belldandy?" It was Keiichi speaking from behind the closed door.
    "Yes, Keiichi-san??" Belldandy almost got up, eagerly.
    The door slid open, and Keiichi came back in, shamefacedly. Belldandy wondered.
    "This is kinda new to me...." Keiichi uttered. Belldandy could guess what Keiichi was talking about.
    "Don't worry. I'll explain things to you..." Belldandy said, beckoning to Keiichi to come over. She smiled.
    "You will never have to worry, I'll be here. Keiichi-san."

{End of Chapter 10}
{Chapter 11 : The Morning Mist Clears}