{Chapter 19 : Beginning}
"Excellency, it profit nothing that you should blame me."
- Reverend Samuel Parris, The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    "URD! SKULD! GET IN HERE NOW!" Megumi screamed from inside the bathroom. She sounded very, very angry.
    And disturbed. Megumi's voice wavered slightly, as if she wasn't sure calling them was a good idea. Urd looked at Skuld.

    The group was gathered outside the corridor into the bathroom, with the four Goddesses and three other humans milling around in concern. They had come scrambling like ants when they heard Keiichi scream from the bathroom, but had stopped at the entrance to the changing room, at Belldandy's request. But Megumi wouldn't listen, since she was Keiichi's sister and demanded her right to go in to check on her brother.
    That shouting sounded like she wished she hadn't done so. Peorth and Uruz looked at Urd, then Skuld.
    "Let's go in." Skuld said. Urd nodded. And as Skuld went in, Urd turned to Chihiro. She didn't sound the least bit humorous now. Urd was all business now. She looked straight into Chihiro's eyes, and something in them glittered.
    "Chihiro, go home first. We'll take care of this. Come back tomorrow or something, ok?"
    Chihiro looked at Urd. She considered protesting, but ended up asking.
    "Can't we stay and try to help?"
    Urd shook her head.
    "I mean it. With all deadly seriousness. Go. Home. All of you."
    The three of them nodded and trotted off at a brisk pace. Ootaki was still nursing a few bruises, but he looked like he would be all right. His shades weren't even scratched. They quietly disappeared around the corner as the four Goddesses remaining looked. Peorth put a hand on Uruz's shoulder.
    "We'll wait in the living room." Uruz looked up, curiously.
    "One-sama?" She asked. Peorth shook her head.
    "We'd better leave them be first, Uruz. You'll understand next time." She explained. She sounded... worried. She was speaking several decibels lower than usual, and kept looking between Uruz and Urd.
    "Oh, ok." A wide eyed Uruz said, trustingly. She was worried, but she guessed she could find out later. She obediently followed Peorth out as Urd and Skuld ran in at full speed.

*     *     *

    The two came in to a scene worse than a tragic train accident, all the scarier because there was no blood and no bodies, but the feeling in the air was the same.
    And the people in it wore the same expressions.
    Keiichi was wrapped in a towel now, sitting on a wooden stool with her face in her hands. She just kept crying, a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a sob. Belldandy and Megumi were sitting on either side, looking deathly worried. Urd wasn't sure if it was the steam in the room, but both of them looked ghastly pale. Belldandy was constantly wringing her hands, looking left and right, but always down, not even looking up when Urd and Skuld came in with pattering footsteps. Megumi dispensed with most of the movement and just sat there, looking down at the wet floor, hands held tightly together in front of her.
    "What's wrong?" Urd asked.
    "......" Skuld was silent. She just took in the scene before her, silently shocked. She had never seen anything like this before, it was new to her. The expressions; mood - a palpable weight that was pressing against her like a bulldozer; situation; everything.
    Belldandy looked up, her face drawn tightly and haggard. It was as if all her facial muscles had died, leaving her face a drooping, sagging mess. She pointed to Megumi, then held back a choked sob and left the room. She walked like a zombie, Skuld noted. One foot erratically in front, then the other following in its own random fashion. Skuld watched as Belldandy walked out of the room, silently. She caught the sound of multiple footsteps as soon as Belldandy left the door. She was running.
    Skuld looked back to Urd, who was squatting besides Megumi.
    "What happened?" Urd asked Megumi quietly. She looked a lot more composed that Keiichi.
    Megumi pointed at her own face in three places like a triangle. She wouldn't, nay, couldn't speak. Skuld thought back to her basic expressions training. Shock, that was it. Paleness, shivering, inability to talk among other things.
    So Megumi was going through it, and Belldandy probably was too. But Skuld thought shock mostly came to those who were victims?
    Megumi left the room in a somewhat more lively gesture, compared to Belldandy. Skuld didn't hear the sound of running this time though, but that was scarier. It was too quiet.
    The bathroom was left with Keiichi and the two Goddesses. Urd looked at Keiichi. She pulled up the stool Megumi was sitting in and sat in front of Keiichi.
    "What's wrong?" Urd asked. She was remarkably calm for being in such a tenuous event that even Belldandy couldn't speak. Keiichi stopped sobbing for a while, then turned her back to Urd and dropped her hands. Skuld looked on, wonderingly. Urd looked at Keiichi's back for a while, then put a hand on her shoulder. Urd nearly recoiled, it was freezing cold. But she kept herself steady.
    "Can I look?" Urd asked. She had the worst feeling Megumi had told her something she didn't want to believe. Keiichi didn't bother to respond.
    Urd came over to the other side and looked up into Keiichi's downcast face.
    Urd didn't want to believe it all right. Even if she did, it was a little hard.
    They say seeing is believing, but Urd wanted nothing more than to be blinded.

*     *     *

    Outside, Peorth had a blanket tossed over Belldandy and was offering her a steaming  hot cup of green tea to soothe her nerves. Belldandy was shuddering like a wet person tossed in front of an air conditioner at full blast, and she looked like it too. Her lips were pale, colourless, and her already pale skin was white. Belldandy looked like a living dead, Uruz thought.
    Then Uruz saw Megumi coming out. She immediately came over.
    "Is everything all right?" She asked, concerned. Megumi shook her head. She looked a little like Belldandy, pale and shocked, but she wasn't in such a bad state. Uruz got a cup as Megumi sat down at the table and ran a hair through her head with a huge groan and sigh, head slumped weakly downwards. She kept her hand in her hair and ignored the tea left there for her.
    Uruz and Peorth looked at each other. What was going on?

*     *     *

    Urd put a hand over Keiichi's face and a small glow appeared, purple and blue. Urd closed her eyes in concentration as she mumbled something. Then she opened her eyes and looked at Keiichi's face. Nothing yet. Urd heaved a massive sigh of relief which echoed in the bathroom. Skuld was dying of curiosity now, but Urd had made Skuld stay there and not look.
    "Thank Providence and every other miracle that it isn't functional. Yet." Urd said at last. Keiichi stopped sobbing, at least, after hearing that. Urd stood up. Skuld looked at her.
    "What's not functional yet? Urd? Keiichi?" Skuld asked. She was more curious now than concerned, and it was making her bratty.
    Keiichi stood up and turned around. Skuld sucked in her breath in the reverse of a scream. Skuld had, for a moment, almost thought she was looking at Belldandy.
    Goddess markings and all.

*     *     *

    "S...o...." Belldandy forced out of her mouth. The tea wasn't doing anything to warm her up, it felt like ice in her mouth even though it would've burned the tongue off Megumi. It moved sluggishly, it felt cold, it tasted horrid. Peorth was hanging on every word Belldandy could strain out.
    Megumi looked up. She was distraught, and that wasn't the proper word for her. She finally took a sip of her hot tea, savoured it, then downed the whole thing. The pain of the heat was welcome to Megumi, it burned her mouth, seared her throat, warmed her stomach. It sent prickling tendrils of fiery pain to every part of her body on its way down. It was a hell of a lot better than the numbness she had felt before.
    "Keiichi's becoming Belldandy." Megumi said. That was fact. She had seen it for herself, there was nothing to explain it away. Keiichi couldn't and wouldn't do this as a practical joke, even if he'd dared. Peorth and Uruz looked at each other.
    "Huh?" They asked, simultaneously.
    "What Megumi means-" Urd said from the corridor, leading a shivering cold Keiichi out between her and Skuld. "-Is that the Metamorphosis spell is finally making its purpose known. To both parties involved."
    Uruz felt the memory she wanted to remember slap her across the face like Belldandy's slap the other time, only with a heavy lead gauntlet added.
    "DAMN!" Uruz spat. Everyone looked at her. Uruz was up and pacing back and forth now. Profanities were best whispered when a God/dess was involved, and to spit such a damnable word was blasphemy. Everyone expected a phone call from the Almighty at that moment.
    But Uruz didn't give a bug's ass about that. She thought back to the corrupted wish and was reciting something. She remembered everything about the wish. Its entire specifics. Imagine.... what if it was just change a little?
    "Megumi, get Keiichi out of here. Now." Uruz spoke, quickly, sharply. Megumo nodded and helped Keiichi out of the room, hugging her tightly and whispering things into Keiichi's ear. All the Goddesses came to attention around the table. Uruz sat back down.
    "I'll tell you what I think is happening...." Uruz said. She was all severity and sounded nothing like a barely maturing teenager now.
    She sounded much, much older.

*     *     *

    The Almighty slammed a fist onto His chair's armrest. He had recieved a call not too long ago. It was from His Licensing division. He knew it was coming, He had expected it a long time ago.
    Only thing was, He didn't expect it so soon. Things were proceeding much too quickly to handle by Himself. The call had told Him that there was a duplicate signal coming from the Morisato household, that was Belldandy's signal.
    The Almighty knew that these signals were impossible to reproduce, God, Demon or Human. Which meant the Metamorphosis spell was doing its job remarkably well, for all that nobody wanted it to. The Almighty had vetoed the request to grant power to the signal, but it was only a temporary measure. The Ultimate Force would make sure of that little detail, which even the Almighty couldn't do anything about. There were times when making an all mighty, uncrackable, existence-wide system was a hassle, because that meant not even its creator would be able to stop it.
    The Almighty only hoped that His children could solve the problem soon. Everything was beginning to fall into Plan, but when it came to Morisato Keiichi, everything was never too right.
    That was because he was the one who could change the Fates, and not know it.

*     *     *

    "And that's it. I believe... the metamorphosis spell was inacted to fulfil this part of the wish which was, unfortunately, corrupted." Uruz finished. She was drained of all strength now, after having lost it in the middle of her discussion. She herself began to realize that this was a lot more problematic than her initial impression let up on.
    Belldandy stared, and then Peorth followed a second later. Urd groaned, and Skuld looked confused.
    "What's going on?" Skuld asked. "So what about Keiichi switching places with Belldandy? We can change it, can't we? I mean, it's only physical."
    Skuld understood enough to know that insofar, the changes were only physical. Urd had proven that Keiichi's Goddess markings were so far mostly cosmetic, but that didn't mean the situation wasn't likely to change. Belldandy looked at Skuld sadly.
    "Skuld, we are the Norns of Fate. You understand that we know things mortals might never comprehend?" Skuld thought for a moment. Megumi was doing a good job of matching her there, but she still had a lifetime to go to catch up with Skuld.
    And added to that, Skuld chillingly realized, they were the Fates.
    She nodded. Belldandy went on.
    "And you understand that only we Goddesses have access to such powers granted by the Almighty Himself?"
    Skuld knew this one. She nodded. Belldandy drew a deep breath, heaving noticeably under the blanket.
    "If Keiichi was to become me, you understand that even if he doesn't go mad with the things I know..." Belldandy paused for a moment. She drew another shuddering breath. Urd patted her, trying to comfort her. If Belldandy broke down now...
    "He will be destroyed by the energy those Goddess markings will bring down to him." Belldandy said, shudderingly, but held her head high still. She continued. "You understand we Goddesses... do not exist solely on this plane, Skuld. One way or another, Keiichi-san won't make the transition." Belldandy continued in a remarkable show of strength. "And being mortal, Keiichi-san....." Belldandy sobbed once. Her voice buckled under its own strain, her strength disappeared in a cleansing, but filthy, flood. "Will be gone."
    Belldandy started crying. Skuld didn't completely get it.
    "But..." She whispered to no one in particular. "Isn't the metamorphosis going to help Keiichi cope with the power?"
    Uruz patted her on the back. Skuld looked. The two were becoming friends of a sort for all their differences, and it was going to be needed now.
    "Skuld." Uruz started. "Keiichi's only mortal."
    Skuld thought about it. She looked at herself. Then she thought back, trying to remember some nagging memory that kept reminding her of her status.
    Deja vu.
    That day, when Mara had bungled up Uruz's wish granting.
    Skuld, for one so young, understood.
    She was, after all, a Goddess.

*     *     *

    In her room, Keiichi was lying on the futon, staring at the ceiling. She kept feeling her forehead, rubbing and pinching it as if that would rid her of the blue sliver that ran down it. Megumi was sitting by the desk with her legs tucked up and her hands clapsed over them. Her head rested on her knees, but she wasn't sleeping.Both were still much shaken, although calmer now.
    "Tell me something." Keiichi croaked, her voice hoarse from a night of crying. Megumi's head snapped up.
    "Yeah, Keiichan?" Megumi said. She knew as well as Keiichi what was happening. She was smart, and intuitive. She could easily guess what was going to happen.
    Keiichi was probably going to take over Belldandy, or something. But Keiichi wasn't going to be Keiichi any longer, Megumi was sure.
    "You now, I'm not so much worried about losing my identity." Keiichi said to the ceiling, but directing the words at Megumi. "I'm worried about Belldandy."
    Megumi nodded.
    "She'd be devastated at losing you."
    Keiichi chuckled once, and sounded like frozen sandpaper being crushed.
    "I was thinking more along the lines that I'm not as important as her job, Megumi. She's a Goddess, and if I inherit it, who knows what happens then? If she still has her powers, then I don't mind. But...." Keiichi trailed off, knowing Megumi could finish it on her own.
    "She's a Norn of Fate, right?" Megumi asked. Keiichi nodded, the pillow rustled. Megumi had been told as much.
    "Then where does the Present go?" Megumi finished.
    "Maybe we make our own fates, maybe they help us change it." Keiichi continued. "But everyone is important, Belldandy taught me that. No one more so than, I believe, those who belong to the Heavens, which I obviously don't belong to. Whatever it is she does, it is for everyone's good. In that I believe. But can I believe in myself?" Keiichi was too calm for Megumi's comfort. But then again, who said Keiichi was calm? Megumi looked at the wall in front of her.
    "Keiichi, you never thought of her as a Goddess much, right?" Megumi said. "I mean, she's so natural and charming, she could do things even without her marvels."
    Keiichi chuckled again. More sandpaper and some coughing.
    "We don't know what she does."
    "True."
    Silence.
    "Megumi, could you do me a favour?" Keiichi asked. Megumi nodded.
    "Anything. Anything at all."
    "If I do... disappear from everyone's lives and everything, I want you to tell Mom and Dad I love them, and that Belldandy had nothing to do with it. Tell them I died of an accident or something."
    Megumi smacked the wooden leg on Keiichi's desk. The desk rattled with Megumi's somewhat vehement slap. A cut welled up on Megumi's hand, but she cared nothing for it.
    "Touch wood, Keiichan! You aren't going to croak on me! You sound like you're on your bloody death bed already!" Megumi spat. She didn't like the idea, and never hoped to pass that message on. This was too morbid, Megumi thought. Morbid and scary.
    "I may be in a way, Megumi." Keiichi said. Megumi got up, went over to the futon and grabbed Keiichi by the shirt.
    "Wake up, Keiichan!" Megumi said, shaking Keiichi. "Nobody said you're going to die! For all we know, this is just a nasty little fantasy! Pinch yourself or something!"
    Keiichi shook her head.
    "No, Megumi. You wake up. You saw Belldandy's reaction to it. And you know she's never acted that way before. She looked like she saw a dead man walking. I'm that dead man. Or woman. Whichever."
    Megumi dropped Keiichi. She stalked over to the door. Her back to Keiichi, Megumi threw a few words her way.
    "I don't care. What happened to the Keiichan who always protected me? Hm? The one who said never say die? The one who said he'd die before letting me get hurt?"
    Keiichi shook her head again, knowing full well Megumi would know what she was doing.
    "Sorry, Megumi-chan. I failed you there."
    Megumi slammed the door behind her. Keiichi sighed and looked up again. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a small, soft blue piece of knitted cloth. The very same one Keiichi had knitted so many days ago. Keiichi squeezed it, then held it close to her.
    And what happens now, then? Keiichi thought.

*     *     *

    Megumi dropped to the floor as soon as she shut the door, and cried. She pounded the floor, used a long handkerchief to muffle her sobs, and just sat there, heaving.
    Keiichan... Megumi thought. Over and over again.

*     *     *

    The night passed by, uncaring, unfeeling, knowing only that it would live for a few hours more before moving on or be destroyed.
    As if it would care to sympathize with the inhabitants of a lonely temple on the outskirts of town. If only it knew its own fate was in their hands.

    Inside, everyone sat in silence. Nobody had anything to say, and nobody wanted to move. Something was supposed to happen, but nobody knew.
    Belldandy sat wrapped in blankets, eyes closed, dozing softly. She had overextended her threshold for weariness in a day and couldn't stay awake any longer. Urd sat there, brooding. Peorth looked over Belldandy, her mind constantly being divided for her concern for Keiichi and Belldandy. They were all good friends, and even a good natured romance rivalry wouldn't stop them from staying friends. Skuld was outside, citing the need to think in silence. Uruz sat there, racking her brains for some way to change things.
    Uruz suddenly sat up. Everyone looked. Even Belldandy, in all her weariness, felt the movement. She woke up, sluggishly. Uruz looked at Peorth.
    "It's time I explained my designation." Uruz announced. Urd laughed once through clenched teeth, mockingly.
    "What's the time? And what's the use?" Urd asked, sardonically, sarcastically. She didn't want to waste time listening to people's occupations!
    Belldandy put a weak hand up. Urd wondered if she had any of that brown potion left. Belldandy was wheezing like a faulty whistling kettle, and she still looked pale and drawn.
    "Listen... to her. We may... think of something."
    "Fair enough." Peorth said. And maybe, finally, she would find out what Uruz's domain had to do with her position. She called for Skuld to come in. Skuld did. Uruz took a deep breath and began.
    "I am Always."
    "What's that?" Belldandy asked. Peorth looked thoughtful. Time to lay her old suspicions to rest.
    "I think it's something to do with time?"
    "......" Urd and Skuld just listened. Uruz shrugged.
    "Something like that. But I am not a Goddess of Time and Fates as you four are." Belldandy looked wonderingly, for all her haggedness. But everyone could see the life was coming back into her, she was playing a more active role now.
    "Something like time, yet nothing to do with it?"
    Peorth got frustrated. She hated it when people played word games like that with her. She took the direct approach. "What is your designation, then?"
    Uruz looked confused as to how to continued. She scratched her temple, looking to one side. "You would find it hard to understand, I would find it hard to explain."
    "Try us." Skuld said.
    "I am Always."
    "Got us there." Urd replied.
    Belldandy looked like she had an idea. "You are Always?"
    Peorth got the idea. She played along. "Always, as in...?"
    "Things change, things stay. I maintain these things. As long as I live, I maintain them." Uruz said, shrugging nonchalantly. Urd rubbed her chin, considering this. She repeated it to herself.
    "Things that change and things that stay...." Urd muttered. Uruz shook her head and waved a hand.
    "No, things that stay as they change. Things that change as they stay. And sometimes, just only, what you said. Always."
    Skuld pondered. Everyone did. Skuld closed her eyes and thought for a moment, but she couldn't think of anything.
    "Got me there." Uruz sighed.
    "I knew you would not understand." Skuld shot her a sudden look full of venom, and with the teeth poised to strike.
    "Hey! Was that meant-" Belldandy raised a hand, her weak and quiet voice growing slightly stronger.
    "Hush, Skuld."
    "That is it." Uruz concluded. Peorth looked baffled. Eyebrows raised and rubbing her chin, Peorth switched actions constantly, scratching her neck, rubbing her temple, shaking her head. She was a lot more confused now than when she hadn't known Uruz's designation. Sometimes, it was better to live with what you believed was true and leave the truth to others.
    "I don't get it."
    Maybe not. Curiosity gnawed at her, ate at her mind, fed her lust to know. The beauty of truth was knowing, and for Peorth, she needed to know everything.
    "We don't either." The Sisters of Fate said. This was too weird for them. Uruz smiled at them coyly and shrugged, again.
    "I do not truly understand it myself. It is not a clue, but a riddle given to me."

    Everyone sat and thought it over. Uruz herself was given this riddle to her job by Freya, to which she herself knew not what it meant. Nobody had bothered to ask the Almighty, because He wouldn't answer and nothing would change that. After all, why would He give the answer for the world when He owned everything anyway?
    Truly puzzling. Or maybe not...
    Peorth sighed and threw her hands up in half defeat.
    "I don't know. I don't get this stupid puzzle. I'm not gonna give up, but this is waay too weird for a tired Goddess like me."
    Urd and Skuld nodded.
    "We don't know what's going to happen now." They both said. Belldandy sighed.
    "We should get some rest. Maybe we can think of something then."
    Everyone nodded.
    Just as everyone was leaving for their rooms, Belldandy felt something snuggle up to her. She looked down. It was Velsper, wanting to share the warmth of the blanket and her. He meowed once, affectionately, and rubbed against her again. Belldandy smiled weakly. Velsper was always there to comfort her. She had this strange feeling that Velsper was someone she'd met before, but forgot about it as she picked him up and held him up to her face.
    "Well, I guess another warm body won't hurt tonight." Belldandy said. Velsper licked her face. His rough tongue tickled her. She laughed.
    "Ok, ok! I won't use you as a bed warmer, promise?" Velsper meowed and nodded. Belldandy stood up, unsteadily, and walked back to her room with Velsper in one hand and the blanket slung over her frame.
    In a dark corner of her mind Belldandy was conscious of, she envied the cat. Velsper had nothing to worry about, cats never did. She sometimes wished she could be as carefree as him.
    Maybe she would get it someday.

*     *     *

    Urd found Megumi asleep as she passed by Keiichi's room, and saw Megumi curled up on the floor outside of it. Urd tsked.
    "Whatever compelled her to sleep out here?" Urd asked. She knelt besides Megumi and noted the reddish swell marks around Megumi's eyes. She had been crying. Urd muttered crudely under her breath.
    "Damned wish is making everyone's a friggin' tearbag. Damned thing's making everyone miserable. Damned thing's because of a damned daughter of a dog who couldn't learn to do her business outside. Mara." Urd hissed. She was royally pissed off now. She didn't mind the practical joke now and then, even if it was Mara, and most of her attempts at trouble were blessings in disguise.
    But Urd saw nothing in disguise here. She was going to get even with Mara.
    She brought Megumi to her room first, set her down gently, and went out.
    They all knew about the passwords locking the wish, an unprecedented move nobody had heard of, and Urd could guess Mara had circumvented telling them about the demonic password used in the system.
    Urd was going lynching.

*     *     *

    Mara yawned sleepily, stretching her arms out as she sat atop the Tokyo Tower admiring the chaotic lightning storm which had been gathering for some time now. She was in the middle of the great town, and had had a grand time meeting up with her other worthy colleagues. She wouldn't call them friends, no demon in its right mind called another friend without some verification. That came hard, harder than the trust that was needed.
    Mara didn't know that, or care. The wind whipped around her, threw up her cloak, and roared in her ears. She laughed.
    "Oh, this is so fun!" Mara yelled into the wind. She knew the wind would drown it out anyway, so she could scream as much as she liked and nobody would hear.
    Oh, and she was going to scream loudly soon.
    A lightning bolt came down and, with pinpoint accuracy, struck Mara. Several others converged in on it a nanosecond later. Mara screamed.
    The wind killed most of it. But Urd heard enough to know Mara was definitely up there. She went up at a safe distance, and saw Mara leaning against a metal beam, a blackened mess. Obviously alive, because her cursing could be heard even against the wind, and that waving fist was more than alive. Urd yelled into the wind, her voice being carried by the co-operative wind.
    "MARA!" Urd yelled. "MARA!"
    Mara looked up and saw Urd, standing in the wind, her hair flailing all around her like some Goddess come to visit.
    Then again, Urd was a Goddess. But her visit wasn't too social.
    "Whaddisit, Urd!?" Mara screamed against the wind. She wasn't going to use mind to mind here, if Urd got zapped by the lightning...
    Hold on, Urd used lightning like her hands. Mara cursed under her breath, that bitch zapped her! But Urd didn't look like she wanted to be messed around with today. And if Mara was any judge of character, she'd say Urd was mightily pissed.
    "You got some nerve locking up the wish with a password, Mara!" Urd yelled back. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. If Urd wasn't interested in him, Thor might've found a good wife in Urd.
    Mara scratched her chin. Password? Nobody told her about the password!
    "What password!?" Mara yelled, genuinely ignorant. She'd forgotten about the ruse she used on Uruz. Urd raised her chin and looked at Mara hauntingly. More lightning, and the wind changed directions.
    "You know what I'm talking about!" Urd screamed. Her voice was tinny now, the wind blowing against her. But Mara heard the threat behind it. She didn't take well to them.
    "Go kiss someone else's ass, Urd!" Mara taunted. "I don't know what pee word you're talking about!"
    Urd slammed her fist against her palm, and lightning crashed.
    "You're asking for it." Urd muttered under her breath. Mara caught Urd's killing look, and 'eeped' once.
    "Mama." Was all Mara could say before Urd charged at her.
    And Tokyo experienced the worst lightning storm in history. People would talk about it for ages, how the Tokyo Tower was electrified over and over until the thing nearly became the world's biggest electromagnet.

*     *     *

    That night, it didn't rain, instead, the Heavens opened and stormed upon the Earth. The heaviest rains reported in years and years raged over Tokyo in an unprecedented and totally unexpected deluge. The rain drowned out all other noise save the thunder, obscured everything save the lightning. Winds screamed and howled as they slammed everything in their way with merciless anger. Everything was gloomy, dark and dingy. People were murky blurs, and those denizens fortunate enough to be home mucked around with nothing to do.
    The rain slammed against the roof of the temple mercilessly, like a giant knocking on a door. The only thing good to come out of this was that it was blessedly cool in the temple. Peorth looked out the window as lighting streaked across the sky and thunder followed it a second later. The brief illumination made the room eerily bright, and Peorth looked to her side. They were in the guestroom, and the two Goddesses were staying in it until they could get this sorted out. Peorth knew she'd be reprimanded by the Almighty for not reporting her undue stay here, but He could chew her out when she got back. She had to see this through to the end.
    For whose sake, she didn't know, nor care.
    Uruz was wide awake, Peorth could see. She was staring at the window, huddling under her blankets, and trying to keep warm in her pyjamas.
    "Hey." Peorth said. Uruz looked at her. Her eyes glinted white as lightning flung itself across the skies again.
    "Yes, one-sama?"
    "It's not your fault." Peorth said. Uruz would know what that meant.
    "No, but I still feel responsible!" Uruz choked. After so long in the belief that she had done it, it stuck. Everyone knew that, and they hated themselves for keeping the belief, but nothing could be done. It just was.
    "Ah...." Peorth muttered. "If only we could turn back time."
    "You know how dangerous that is, one-sama." Uruz said. Peorth chuckled.
    "Yes, I do know that, Uruz dearie." Peorth said. Uruz wondered how Peorth stayed warm in that two piece on-duty Goddess outfit, without a blanket on.
    "And pass me a blanket over there, would you? It's beastly cold in this." Peorth said. Uruz blinked once, surprised, and nodded. She used a spell and carried the said blanket over. Peorth 'aahed' as she threw it over herself.
    "Thanks, Uruz." Peorth said, approvingly. Uruz felt her spirits soar for no reason at all. Thens he looked out the window.
    "I wonder what's causing all this? This rain wasn't scheduled for another fifty years." Peorth said. "Did something go wrong Up Above?"
    Uruz shrugged. "I don't know."
    Of course you wouldn't. Peorth thought. You're not First Class. But she held her tongue. Fancy her saying something as insensitive as that! Uruz took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. The room was dark again, and Peorth only had the sound of rustling cloth to go by, in addition to that howling wind outside.
    "I don't know, Peorth. I'm going to cause the death of Keiichi, because I know that if I hadn't done the things I've done, that demoness wouldn't have known it and this wouldn't have happened. I feel so.... sick." Uruz said, tiredly. Peorth sighed.
    "We're not out of the woods yet, Uruz. Don't give up." Peorth wondered if she believed in that herself. Uruz sighed.
    "Belldandy is going to hate me, do you know that?" Uruz said, believing her own words with a passion. "I've caused them so much pain, made them grow so far apart despite what I tried to do.... and I've broken client confidentiality by even telling you all about that part of the wish." Uruz sighed. She hadn't told the whole wish, and even if she could remember it, she wouldn't. But what she had told was enough for them.
    "And I'm sure that I've ruined their perfect relationship." Uruz said. Peorth fantasized for a moment about her and Keiichi. She smiled.
    "Maybe so, and maybe not. And the Almighty forgive me for this, but I really hope that I can be the one with Keiichi darling." Peorth said, wistfully. Uruz looked at her, surprised.
    "One-sama! That's selfish of you!" She exclaimed, shocked.
    Peorth nodded, then sighed sadly.
    "I know. I know... but what else is there to do now?"
    A pause.
    "What else?"

{End of Chapter 19}
{Chapter 20 : Trial by Spirit}