Skuld marked off the final day from the calender
with a red marker. Finally. FINALLY. It was a week. Skuld didn't think
Urd would've stopped causing havoc. Well, Urd DID behave when Sentaro had
come around, thrice during the week. For his first visit, Skuld couldn't
bring herself to say very much in his presence, she was still deathly embarrassed
about those kissing incidents even though she'd met more more than once
after that. But she had quickly recovered after that, and they still had
a great friendship which Urd had seen possibilities in.
But one relation at a time. Urd was the "unofficial"
Goddess of Love no matter what she claimed, and she had a very personal
relation with a pair of lovebirds at the moment. Well, Urd had tried for
position of Goddess of Love before, but Venus had beat her to it time and
again, because Urd was a little too personal when it came to these things.
Not that Urd minded, it was a busy job. She would rather have flexible
working hours.
Speaking of which, she hadn't heard from Keiichi
OR Belldandy for the entire week, which wasn't too unusual considering
their plans, but Urd had expected Peorth to cause a lot of trouble. Maybe
she did, and Keiichi had been hospitalized and was coming home right now
in a wheelchair. Maybe not. Urd grinned though, wondering what the two
did during their stay. She noticed Skuld wasn't around, and went to look
for her. As expected, Skuld was waiting at the foot of the staircase, waiting
for the bus to arrive. She looked tense. Urd snuck up from behind her.
"Sentaro's here!" Urd announced, softly.
That worked better than if Urd had screamed "Boo!".
Skuld jumped, half shouting, and looked around nervously. Urd laughed.
Skuld glared at her.
"Urd! You didn't have to do that!" Skuld chided
her.
"Sorry, couldn't help it!" Urd was trying to control
herself now, but she still couldn't stop shaking and grinning. It was good
to know Skuld was serious about Sentaro, it would make things easier for
Urd when she decided to interfere.
"I'm going back for a bottle." Urd announced. "Tell
me when they get here." And floated off back to the kitchen. Skuld looked
around to make sure Sentaro really wasn't around, and sat back down, waiting.
She always felt her cheeks blush at Sentaro's name, and that fluttery feeling
all over when she saw him, but she was evasive to the subject of her liking
him. All the same, Skuld did like Sentaro for other reasons.
The wait wasn't long (after that interlude between
her and Urd), and the bus pulled up across the street in front of Skuld.
She yelled for Urd, who came out a little unsteadily, obviously drunk,
and the two waited to greet Keiichi and Belldandy's return.
And then they saw another two uninvited guests following
Keiichi and Belldandy.
"What's Peorth doing there?" Urd asked, sobered
up. Peorth's appearance never failed to do that. Skuld considered making
a mecha-Peorth so she could sober Urd up when convenient. But she shrugged.
"Don't know. And who's the other one?" There was
another one following Peorth as she alighted, and Skuld couldn't tell that
one's gender from her vantage point.
"The bishonen? No idea." Urd obviously thought that
one was male.
The foursome met up with Skuld and Urd. Skuld gave
Belldandy an affectionate hug and Urd patted Keiichi on the shoulder, winking.
Keiichi brushed it off and gave Urd a dirty look. Belldandy held up a plastic
bag from 131's Ice Cream shop, which Skuld happily took.
"As promised. " Belldandy said. Skuld was grinning.
She called Banpei to put it in the freezer for later. Banpei obeyed obediently.
As they walked up the flight of stairs, Keiichi
looked around. He noticed that it was cooler on temple grounds than outside.
He guessed Skuld had finally created her remedy to the heat. While in this
train of thought, Urd patted Keiichi on the shoulder.
"So how'd your weekend go, Belldandy?" Urd asked
suggestively. Keiichi looked annoyed at Urd's hand, squeezing his shoulder
on and off.
"It was wonderful..." Belldandy trailed off. She
was thinking about Mara. However, Urd took this is a very promising sign.
"We met Mara, on our first day there," Keiichi filled
in for Belldandy. "But after a big mess, Mara left." He decided to leave
Peorth out of it, no telling what she might do if he spilled the beans.
Urd's face dropped the grin she was wearing upon hearing Mara's name.
Skuld and Urd looked at each other, a cold shiver
running down their spines. That feeling came back. But they faked it off,
and looked at the newcomer, ignoring Peorth. Peorth wasn't too happy about
that. They finally reached the top of the staircase, where Urd had time
to look the newcomer over.
"I don't think I recognize you," Urd said, with
an interest. She stroked Uruz's chin. "Never seen you in the Heavens before."
Those markings were unmistakable, at least. Everyone in the Heavens had
them. Most chose to keep them hidden though, especially those not in the
Wish Making department. Each Marking gave off its own signature frequency
that identified the God/Goddess, and were impossible to replicate. The
Almighty had seen to that.
Uruz was uncomfortable at Urd's.... introduction.
She'd heard about Urd, but didn't really know what to expect. This was
not a very good way to start. The spell was beginning to wear off, and
Uruz guessed it wouldn't be too hard to tell Urd who she really was. But
it was really wonderful to be able to meet the three Norns in person, at
least.
"I'm Uruz!" she chirped happily. The spell released
its hold on her voice first. Urd looked surprised. "Goddess Second Class,
Third Category, Unlimited license. Pleased to meet you!" She held out her
hand.
Urd and Skuld looked at each other. Peorth could
guess what they were thinking too. She guessed it was as good a time as
any to make herself known.
*ahem* "I think it's about time someone said hi
to me?"
Uruz looked at her. Urd and Skuld did too. They
didn't look too enthusiastic when they said it.
"Hi." was uttered in a monotone monosyllable, as
Skuld and Urd looked at her with deadpanned eyes. Peorth sulked. There
was that little animosity between them, which they themselves had never
really understood. Belldandy decided to step in before things got worse.
"Shall we all go in, for tea?" she quipped.
"Yes, one-sama!" Skuld was hopping up and down.
* * *
Nobody noticed a figure floating above the temple
with a large, circular object in its hands. Its model name was T.C.D 666.
Mara was still a little bitter over that holiday incident, but she was
more in her demoness mood now than angry. She was back on the job now,
and she knew she was going to have fun.
"Oooh yes. There they come, the bunch of them. Happy
now, aren't you? Enjoyed your stay at the Lodge? Well now, it's my turn!"
Mara was mumbling to herself, absentmindedly fingering the device in her
arms. She had listened to what Senbee had told her about Uruz's arrival,
and it was only a matter of time.
"Senbee, your happy level's gonna go real high."
Mara grumbled. From somewhere beside her, Senbee was waiting.
"Senbee's happy level go REAL high,
missus! Yeah!" And Senbee didn't even need to say "Happening!" to
do it. "Senbee not losing this time!"
* * *
"That's why I'm here." Uruz finished, drinking the
last drops of tea in her cup. Urd was listening carefully, in case Uruz
had any ideas about Keiichi too. Apparently not, Urd could tell Uruz was
more interested in Keiichi's stories than in Keiichi himself. However,
Skuld was listening unhappily. Uruz was her age at least, and she was still
two steps ahead of her in both position and licensing. Skuld envied Uruz
jealously. But amidst all this, at least they had worked out Peorth's lovestruck
problems, although it still didn't sit well with Urd or Skuld. Peorth wasn't
likely to give up showering Keiichi with affection anytime soon; It showed
on her face.
During all this time, Keiichi was pondering. He
looked almost like Belldandy now, with his chin in his hands, looking at
nothing at all. Urd grinned to herself, Belldandy had rubbed off more on
him than he had thought. However, everyone could guess what Keiichi was
thinking as he pondered, it was plain as day : "So NOW what do I wish
for?"
Keiichi really did have everything he wanted. Beautiful
girlfriend whom he loved, and loved him back, Goddesses living with him
(optional), great school and friends (He wouldn't be where he was without
Tamiya and Ootaki, and anyone else, he knew.), no fear for lack of money,
and he and Belldandy had basically said almost everything there was to
say between them. It really couldn't get any better. He was humble about
it, as everyone could guess, but he didn't want to leave Uruz disappointed
at not having granted him a wish. After all, Uruz had made it clear that
she followed Peorth's footsteps very closely and thus it wouldn't do to
get rid of her until she had granted Keiichi's wish.
"Don't worry, take your time!" Uruz had cheerily
prompted. Keiichi had wondered about Peorth's part in this, but Peorth
had left soon after she had given Uruz some last minute tips. So here he
was, a 20something University undergraduate who had a third wish which
plenty would have given an arm, a leg, and a rib for, he had gotten it
for free, and he had absolutely nothing to wish for.
Well, there was that one thing, but he couldn't
say it out in front of so many people, especially Belldandy.
And it was weird, what Belldandy meant to him now.
Keiichi didn't see Belldandy as a Goddess too often nowadays. He saw her
more as a very special young woman, who had come into his life as a result
of nothing more than a mere wrong number. The fact that she had a lot of
divine power at her disposal didn't matter to him, the fact was that he
loved her, she loved him, and thus there was that simple relationship between
them that wouldn't change no matter what happened, and a lot of strange
things had happened. Especially after Belldandy's Goddess license had expired
a while back, and she had to live as a normal being for the time it took
for the offices in the Heavens to renew her license. Keiichi had come to
admire Belldandy's spirit a lot more after that; He had always taken her
abilities for granted when he wouldn't have done so with others, because
Belldandy always seemed so capable in everything and she had always assured
him of that fact. Well, he knew better now than to think she would give
up even without her powers. The thing was, Belldandy herself had never
doubted her abilities even without her powers, she always did her best.
And that was what counted to her. It was only a
blessed extra bonus that she could do most of the impossible things she
did with her powers.
"Uruz?" Keiichi whispered over the table as Skuld
and Urd were fighting over the remote now that just about everything had
gone back to normal. Belldandy was busy cleaning up the table and humming
that Anata no Birthday song she had sung at the Lodge.
"Yes, yes?!" Uruz almost flew across the table just
to listen to what Keiichi would say, which was most likely to be a wish.
She scared Keiichi a lot with her energtic enthusiasm, unknowingly.
"Erm..... if I can't make up my mind now, would
you still mind waiting?" The half of Keiichi that didn't want another wish
on his shoulders knew that there was no other way to send her back to the
Heavens without making Uruz feel like a failure, and the other half which
wanted Keiichi to make that wish was hoping that Uruz wouldn't mind waiting.
The coin was spinning, so to speak. It would land
on one side or the other soon.
Uruz looked thoughtful. She turned her back to Keiichi
and leaned back on the table, looking thoughtful. She was mumbling something
to herself which Keiichi couldn't catch.
"Well...." Uruz started, turning around slowly.
Behind her, Skuld had lost the fight to Urd due to her short height and
was stomping back to her room now, vowing to invent something that would
bring Urd down to size. Urd was challenging her and making faces behind
Skuld's back. "That's a trick question, right?" Uruz smiled cheekily when
she came to face Keiichi again.
Keiichi fell onto the table, Belldandy barely pulling
her hand back in time to avoid poking a hole in his face with the jewel-embedded
ring she wore as a present from him those two years back. He got up, looking
at Uruz disbelievingly.
Turns out the proverbial coin was a trick coin,
and it was standing up.
"What kind of question is that?!" Keiichi asked,
exasperated. Uruz was grinning.
"Ooh, nothing much...." Uruz said, trailing off.
"I could always stay if you have a wish to make, or I could go back...."
Uruz continued. "And I'll have THE story to tell, of the mortal who had
everything...." Uruz was getting at something. Keiichi felt it in his gut.
Belldandy was walking towards the kitchen now, still humming that tune.
When Belldandy had gone, Uruz quickly floated over
to Keiichi's side and nudged him in the ribs.
"Hey, you really don't want anything, anything at
all??" Uruz asked. She was beginning to look disappointed. Keiichi tried
to shoo her away just to prevent her from nudging him again.
"No, I don't!" Keiichi responded, defensively.
Uruz was smiling with that secret smile again. Keiichi
hated that look. Urd always wore it, so did Skuld. Even Belldandy did too,
sometimes.
"Oh? Then, what about.... say.... " Uruz looked
thoughtful as she floated over the table, finger to her mouth, "wondering".
She turned around in midair and looked Keiichi in the eyes. Then she whispered
in his ear.
"WHAAAT!?"
That rocked the house. Skuld dropped her screwdriver
in shock, Urd looked behind her all of a sudden, Belldandy opened her eyes
wide, and up above the temple, Mara nearly dropped the device. Urd muttered
something about Keiichi having picked up that shouting voice from Belldandy
too.
Uruz's ear was ringing with Keiichi's response.
For a young teenage Goddess, Uruz had lots of guts, Keiichi had to admit
that. Suggesting something like that to him!
Uruz looked hurt. "Don't get defensive...!" Now
Uruz was beginning to sulk at him. "I only suggested it!" Urd had gone
back to her TV.
Keiichi still couldn't believe Uruz had suggested
that. He had hoped he was the only one with that idea in his head! Keiichi
wasn't so much angry than shocked at the fact that Uruz could think of
that too.
"Keiichi-san?! What's going on? Are you all right?"
Were Belldandy's first words as she came running into the living room,
concern written in about a dozen languages over her face. Keiichi looked
at Belldandy, then half-grinned, half-smiled at her in embarrassment.
"No, no, it's nothing, Belldandy, really!" He was
trying to allay her fears.
Belldandy didn't look all too convinced though.
She sat down besides him and looked at Uruz. Uruz was busy twiddling her
fingers, head down, as she sat back across the table. Uruz was definitely
apologetic now, Belldandy was angry with her, she knew it. She had fouled
things up by reading Keiichi's mind and discovering his one true desire.
She wished she hadn't done that, is she had a wish to grant herself.
But wasn't that what one-sama told me? Uruz
thought to herself. The use of mind reading to remove any doubts about
the wish making? Well, Uruz had studied all the uses it could be used
for. She had heard of how Belldandy had used it, but Uruz thought this
time was different... Keiichi knew that a wish granting was for real, he
just didn't have anything to wish for. She just wanted to remove his doubts
about making that one true wish.
Uruz dared a look up at Belldandy. She almost flinched
with an imagined tongue lashing from Belldandy.
"Uruz." Belldandy said. She wasn't asking for Uruz's
attention now, she was getting it, like it or not.
"Yes....?" Uruz replied. She knew what was coming.
She hid her hands under the table and dared not look up anymore.
"I understand you want to grant Keiichi's one true
wish." No question there.
"Yes..."
"And I understand Keiichi may feel a little embarrassed
about saying it in front of us." Uruz looked up now, a little surprised.
Belldandy did understand Keiichi. Urd looked behind. This was interesting,
and it didn't concern Urd. She was going to make it her business though.
"So, I think we'll give the two of you a little
privacy. I know Keiichi knew the wish he would want during our stay at
the Couple's Lodge-" Belldandy flashed a smile at Keiichi, which he thought
was beautiful. He couldn't hide anything from her. "-So Urd and I shall
leave this room. Urd?"
Urd stood up and looked at the three of them. She
shrugged nonchalantly and smiled as such.
"Well, if Keiichi over there wants a private wish,
I won't interfere." Somehow, Keiichi didn't trust that sentence. But
Urd hadn't finished.
"I'll see what happens, then I'll decide."
She laughed once, and floated out the room. Belldandy walked over to Uruz's
side, and knelt down behind her. She put two supportive hands on Uruz's
shoulders, and smiled when Uruz looked at Belldandy.
"Go on. I'll be supporting you all the way." Uruz
was flabbergasted. Belldandy had, far from scolding her, supported her.
Even if Belldandy hadn't known what would've made Keiichi so defensive,
she probably would've done the same, Uruz reasoned.
And Belldandy left the room.
"Well, here goes...." Keiichi started, wondering how to put it.
* * *
Above the temple, Mara was listening to what was
happening inside the temple via a listening device, with which she was
using its tail as an earphone. She smiled happily as she heard Keiichi
start.
"They're starting! T.C.D 666, do yer stuff!" Mara
commanded, gleefully. Oh yes, this was going wonderfully, she thought as
T.C.D 666 powered up and floated under its own power. It spun so that its
keyboard and visual panel faced her, awaiting the event which it was used
for.
Wish disruption.
* * *
Uruz listened carefully, hanging on Keiichi's every
word. When Keiichi had finally finished, Uruz processed the information
in her Markings.
And the wish granting process started. With the
usual floating, Uruz was lifted into the air with her head facing skywards,
her forehead marking glowing a brilliant blue. A laser shot out of it,
through the ceiling (no hole, Keiichi noticed. And little mess.). At least
he was getting what he had wished for.... he had been careful in its specifics.
But still, he wondered why he had so much luck in
getting this wish. It was almost as if someone had given it to him.
* * *
Mara watched as T.C.D 666's bottom lens glowed red
as the laser beam came through the roof. She was watching like an excited
soccer fan as the laser beam hit the bottom lens of the device, and the
entire thing lit up with a blue light as it absorbed the beam and stored
it. All its light displays glowed rainbow, and the information contained
in the laser beam was decoded and displayed on Mara's viewpanel. Mara studied
it quickly, Goddesses could cut their links and retry if a request took
too long to be processed. She quickly typed in a few commands, a little
something she thought was poetic justice for the way the Goddesses had
been ruining her perfect life these few days. (She didn't care if it was
self-inflicted, demonesses didn't really put the blame on themselves if
they could help it, and sometimes, not even then.)
"Yes, go go go!" Mara yelled as she hit the "Enter"
key. The device glowed once more, spun once, and its top lens glowed red.
>From that lens, the laser continued on its path, only this time, there
was a red streak that wound around it like an infected vein. Mara looked
at the laser, which was slightly erratic now.
Then the panel flashed something. Mara peered at
it.
"Warning : Warning : Warning ! Laser does not
conform to current version of T.C.D 666, disruption error! Please refer
to the instruction manual for help on upgrading to system 666.6."
Mara's jaw dropped.
"WHAT manual!? You stupid machine, you're supposed
to work! No, dammit, you HAVE to work!" Mara was frantic now. She had not
expected the machine to be some outdated, hokey old model which she thought
shouldn't have passed the initial testing stages. But for now....
"Gotta get away! This thing's gonna blow!"
Mara yelled. She flew off immediately, her boot grazing the side of the
machine as she did so. It spun again.
* * *
"That's strange," Uruz thought. "Uplink's
a little slow today." She tried a little harder, putting a little more
energy into the beam. It felt like as if there was something else that
was interfering with communications today, like all the lines were on hold.
Then it became jittery, as if something was routing it through to a busy
line in the Heavens.
Then it struck her through the head like a lance.
Uruz saw, and felt, nothing but white. There was
so much pain she couldn't even begin to register it, she was just shocked
into it. But she couldn't do anything, couldn't even whimper, as the wish-laser
continued its erratic path into the Heavens. It burned away all the clouds
as it shot into the sky as an erratic, chaotic lightning bolt.
And Uruz was at the recieving end of the forced
feedback.
Imagine what it would be like, if you were forced,
far beyond your capabilities, to read, interpret and absorb thousands and
millions of lines of programming code in seconds, without mercy. That was
just a little like what Uruz was going through.
Keiichi watched as Uruz's eyes suddenly snapped
open, and stayed that way. Uruz was staring at him, or so it seemed, and
she stared at nothing. Keiichi was terrified. He'd always thought wishes
always came through without a hitch, he belived the Goddesses were infallible
then. Belldandy had told him so, Peorth had proven it to him.
He didn't believe it now. Lightning was coursing
up and down the laser, and most of it ended up frying Uruz, who was convulsing
in the air now. Her eyes remained eerily open and blank though, as if she
didn't know what was happening to the rest of her.
Then there was a thunderclap which sounded like
a giant clapping once, and it sounded very final.
The last thing Uruz heard before blacking out was
the voice of Yggdrasil :
"Wish Approved."
* * *
*BoOooOoOoM*
As the carpenter who had heard the explosion the
other night was reading his evening paper with his tea sitting in a cup
on the table, a slight tremor followed this explosion. The carpenter looked
over his paper and saw the cup moving off the table. He caught it, and
looked out the window. Smoke was coming from the distance.
"Honey, do we have the plans for that temple over
there?"
* * *
Skuld woke up, with a throbbing headache. She smelled
wood, and some burnt charcoal. Actually she was the one who smelled like
the charcoal, but she didn't know, or care. Sitting up and pushing
some planks off her, Skuld looked around. It was very dusty. And the dust
was brown.
She looked around her. Everything was a mess. The
shrinking ray she had been working on was in a dozen pieces, and those
pieces split into another dozen each. The area around her didn't look all
too familiar anymore, everything was just so much junk, but she recognized
the front yard, at least. Or what was left of it.
And it hit her. That dream. Deja Vu.
"NO!" Was all Skuld could say. She quickly stood
up and dusted herself off. She wasn't badly injured, and her clothes were
mostly intact, if not dirty. Looking around, she saw a very surprised and
blackened Banpei-kun staring at her. Skuld yelled a few instructions.
"Banpei-kun! Go find the others!" She knew Banpei
wouldn't be able to help much after that, she noticed his power cable had
been severed. Skuld wondered if it was time she worked on that mini-fusion
reactor she had always been thinking of.
Banpei whirred a little, and went off throwing debris
away like cotton wool as he searched for Belldandy first. Skuld knew her
sisters wouldn't be seriously hurt, whatever it was that had caused the
explosion, but she was worried about Keiichi. He was mortal, he could
be injured, and killed.
"Banpei-kun! Find Keiichi first!" Skuld commanded
as she quickly got around to looking for the rest of her family.
Banpei nodded and activated his infrared scanners,
searching for Keiichi's body heat pattern.
* * *
Mara watched from a safe distance away as the laser
went out of control, spread into a funnel like shape with lightning running
up and down, burned away the clouds, and caused a lot of havoc all round.
She liked the havoc part, and thought maybe it wouldn't be as severe as
she'd thought.
Then everything just, as they say, blew up in her
face. The air trembled like jello.
Mara began to worry. That wasn't supposed to happen.
* * *
Skuld pulled up a few planks, grunting, and looked
for signs of her sisters. She was getting very worried. What if Banpei-kun
found Keiichi.... or parts of him? She didn't even know what happened,
had no inkling that Mara would be involved in this. Then Skuld couldn't
go on, she hadn't learned any strength enhancing spells. She began to use
her telekineses to help her lift large portions of wood at a time. She
was glad she had practiced during Belldandy's absence.... she wondered
why she did so though.
Finally, she caught sight of a small drinking glass.
And a tanned hand holding it.
"Urd!" Skuld exclaimed. She quickened the pace,
and unearthed Urd seconds later. Urd was moaning as Skuld helped her sit
up.
"I...told you.... not to.... play with... those
toys of yours...." Urd muttered, still half dazed from the explosion. Skuld
slapped Urd a few times, to wake her up.
"Urd! Where's Belldandy!?" Urd looked up at her,
groggily.
"Lemme sleep...." Urd muttered, looking like she
could do so immediately.
"WHERE IS ONE-SAMA!?" Skuld screamed into Urd's
ear with a megaphone. That woke Urd up.
"Geez, you didn't have to shout!" Urd yelled, not
aware that being half-deaf made her yell, which was irritating Skuld further.
Then she looked around her.
"Demolition crew come?" Urd commented. Skuld didn't
think it was funny.
"Come on, we gotta find Belldandy one-sama!" Skuld
tugged at Urd's arm. Urd pulled it away, and looked at Skuld. Contemptibly.
"Skuld, aren't we forgetting something?"
"Eh?"
Urd leaned over and looked at Skuld, darkly.
"Keiichi."
Skuld eeped once. She wondered when Urd had become
so caring. The truth was, Urd was not too worried that something had happened
to Keiichi, she was a little more worried what Belldandy would do if she
found out something had happened. Belldandy was a first class Goddess,
she could take care of herself physically.
Skuld quickly got up and ran to where Banpei was
digging frantically. She could guess what he had found. She joined in.
Urd did too.
They unearthed Uruz first. But Skuld and Urd went
limp when they did. Uruz wasn't hurt, physically, but the ground around
her was blasted into useless dust, and Uruz herself wasn't looking too
pretty. In fact, stone would've looked healthier.
Uruz was staring, white eyed and blankly, at nothing.
She was alive, but she was cold as a corpse and as limp and as purplish
blue as both Goddesses had ever seen. The scariest thing was that she was
shivering even though she was burning up. When Skuld lifted her by the
arm, her head had flopped like a worn rag doll, her body had moved like
thick sludge over the wreckage as Urd dragged her out of the rubble. Urd
lay Uruz out flat on the remains of a door as Skuld went back to look for
Keiichi.
* * *
Belldandy was first conscious through a throbbing
in her head. Then feeling returned to the rest of her body like a prickling
flood. She knew there was something heavy on her, and it would've crushed
a normal human flat. But Belldandy just got to her knees, pushing the thing
away easily. It was the fridge. Belldandy remembered looking in the fridge
for something, but she couldn't recall what.
Then suddenly, she remembered Keiichi.
"KEIICHI-SAN!" Belldandy shrieked, and was up and
running over the debris.
She found Urd, Skuld and Banpei digging furiously
through the wreckage of the former living room, looking for Keiichi. Skuld
was using a shovel and gloves, Urd, her magic to move the heaviest pieces
away, and Banpei just dug with a shovel attachment.
"Keiichi-san...?" Belldandy whispered. She almost
expected him to appear from behind her and say he was all right. He didn't.
Belldandy moved up besides Urd and started digging
as well. Urd looked, wondering what she was digging with. Urd nearly dropped
a wooden beam on Banpei when she saw Belldandy was digging with her bare
hands. Urd stared disbelievingly as Belldandy worked with a fervor that
was more worrying than anything she could imagine. Belldandy was singularly
obsessed with digging, staring into the debris as she dug, as if she could
see Keiichi if she did. Urd couldn't mistake the sound of her sobbing though,
and the dust which had settled on the ruins showed that she was crying,
as teardrops washed them away in darker spots on the wood and debris.
Belldandy looked terrible. Even Goddesses could
get injured, physically, if enough force was used. Belldandy was bruised
and cut badly. Urd could only wonder how she ended up like that. She herself
had suffered nothing more than abrasions, Skuld likewise. Even the most
powerful of Skuld's bombs didn't do what it did to Belldandy. Urd could
see Belldandy was destroying her fingers just by digging, and tossing the
occasional heavy, splintered wooden beam to one side like a toothpick.
"Keiichi-san... Keiichi-san... Keiichi-saaan!!!"
Belldandy was digging even more furiously now, repeating his name over
and over again, getting louder and louder, digging faster and faster. Urd
could guess from Belldandy's expression that she didn't expect Keiichi
to survive this. Then she heard a moan from behind. It was Uruz.
"Finally awake?" Urd thought to herself. She couldn't
leave Belldandy to dig all by herself, she knew, but she had to find out
what happened. She went over to Uruz.
Uruz was sitting up now, blinking. She couldn't
focus on anything at all, her vision was blurred, her hearing dampened.
Her mouth tasted gritty. The last thing she remembered was that something
had gone wrong and everything had blown up in her face.
Horribly, terrifyingly, truly, disasterously, without
a doubt, totally, completely, tremendously, vividly, petrifyingly, unnervingly,
PAINFULLY, heart-stoppingly, nerve poundingly, blindingly, head throbbingly,
very wrong. She couldn't think of anything else to add on to this list
at the moment.
"URUZ!" Urd was shaking her. Uruz woke up, comepletely.
Her hearing and vision came back to her. Urd was sitting in front of her,
very angrily. Uruz blinked once, and looked around. Well, she could've
guessed what she just did. She'd fouled up, bad.
"Uruz, explain." Was all Urd said. Urd was too angry
to use any other words. Uruz rubbed her head, her forehead pounded worse
than when Thor had smacked her there with his Hammer. There was also this
sharp, direct pain that went through her head all the way to the back.
It wasn't much though, compared to what she'd just done.
What she had just done. Everything else was
a blank.
"I don't know!" Uruz wailed.
"URUZ!" Urd shouted, and pounded the impromptu floor
with a fist. Thunder rumbled overhead. Urd wanted answers, and she always
got them. Uruz was clutching her head with both hands, screaming.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Then Belldandy noticed their screaming match. She
turned, and saw Uruz, weeping as Urd kept on repeating her name. She came
over. She wanted answers of her own, but not like Urd did.
"Uruz?" Belldandy was concerned, she hoped Uruz
could help.
Uruz just started screaming, plain, loud, sharp.
She didn't care who said what, she just didn't want anyone near her right
now. Belldandy winced at the power behind it.
She wanted to drown out everything else. Her pain
- their pain - their voices - her guilt - their anger - her anger - it
kept coming to her, everything. She kept screaming. She was crying.
It was her fault. Her fault!
It was always her fault. Never others!
Always.
{End of Chapter 8}
{Chapter 9 : Miss Keiichi Arrives!}