{Chapter 8 : Interference}
"Do that which is good, and no harm will come to thee."
- John Proctor, The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

    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!}