{Chapter 7 : Singularity and Companionship.}
"The sun will rise in a few minutes, Excellency. I must have more time."
- Reverend John Hale, The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    Belldandy had assured Keiichi that they wouldn't be disturbed for the rest of the week, and that they could finally have some time alone. It was beautiful, the way arrangements had been made. It was even more beautiful, to finally have time off from real-life problems. It was their second day at the Lodge, and it was morning. This hill was unusually cool all year round, even in the height of summer. The morning mist had formed as a low lying blanket which proved a cool covering for exposed feet walking in the gardens at that time. Belldandy was enjoying the feeling as she took a morning stroll with Keiichi. Even the path up the hill which led to the Lodge had mist rolling down it. Being located on a hill afforded everyone a great view of Tokyo and the Bay at certain places. There were a lot of couples strolling here, she noted. They all looked happy. When she looked at Keiichi, he looked happy too. Belldandy was so happy.

*     *     *

    At the foot of the small hill, a new couple had arrived. The male was dressed in sneakers, loose cargo pants, a white T-shirt and had a vest over it. His partner was dressed in a knitted long sleeved sweater and had a short skirt, with black tights and sandals.
    "We're here." Said the man. He was very young, and had a long ponytail.
    "Let's go." Said the lady besides him. She was wearing dark glasses, (And in the morning too. The man had thought it strange.) but that didn't hide the markings on her face.
    And up they went.

*     *     *

    Keiichi and Belldandy were sitting on a bench, having breakfast. Noriko had provided them with a boxed breakfast at sunrise, at Keiichi's request. She had that knowing look, which meant, as Keiichi knew, that this was a popular item in the mornings. It was a simple affair, with both of them sharing the same box. It was definitely the way to go, Keiichi thought. They finished breakfast quickly and sat at the bench. Belldandy had gone to look for Noriko for some reason. Keiichi leaned back in the bench and let out a long breath.
    "Aaaaaah.... Finally," Keiichi said to no-one in particular. "We really get to have time alone and enjoy."
    Yes, it felt real good. Keiichi, the guy with one of the most beautiful girls on this planet (and in the Heavens, truth be told), had definitely never felt this good since they first met. It was strange, Keiichi thought, that he never got to appreciate Belldandy's simple presence when they were alone for the first few weeks after they had met. Only after her sisters had arrived did Keiichi long for time alone with her, and that was because it was only then that he had come to treasure their privacy. He'd finally gotten it, at some expense. Still, he wondered if there was something he had missed.
    "Finally! We're here!"
    Keiichi turned to look. Their bench was near the top of the path that led up the hill, and it was pretty well camoflagued from the entrance's side. He saw a couple walking up, and one of them was wearing glasses. Keiichi nearly fell off the bench, he could recognize those two anyday just by the markings alone.
    But what were Peorth and Uruz doing up here, dressed like that?
    Keiichi was sure it was some hare-brained scheme Peorth had thought of to not only stay close to him, but to make sure Uruz was around if he ever got to making a wish.
    Well, he was right about that first part.
    Peorth didn't see him, and was complaining about the need to walk up the path instead of just fly up. Uruz, playing the pretty convincing part of a young, if not pretty, man, was telling her that if people had saw them, they'd have trouble explaining it.
    "But the place is covered in mist! People can't see our feet!"
    "Still, better safe than sorry, one-sama!"
    "Don't call me that when we're here!"
    "Oops, sorry."
    "Anyway, let's go!"
    And the two of them walked towards the Lodge's main entrance. They passed Belldandy as they went along, ignored her, and continued. Belldandy was watching them disappear into the Lodge as an employee took them into the Lodge as she walked back to Keiichi.
    "Ara... what are they doing here?" Belldandy asked. As if she didn't know.
    But she really didn't. Keiichi shrugged. "I'm guessing Peorth's gotten over that night, but...."
    Belldandy finished his sentence. "She still likes you, doesn't she?" Belldandy wasn't angry, or jealous. She understood Peorth's feelings, had felt them once herself a very long time ago. Well, Belldandy was the ever alturistic Goddess, and decided that Keiichi wouldn't mind a little company. She told him her plans. Keiichi wasn't very eager over it, but it wasn't a bad idea. Everyone benefitted, he thought. So why not?

*     *     *

    As it turned out, it had been almost unfair as to who benefitted more. Peorth had loved the idea of the four of them staying together (they used Mara and Senbee's aliases which Belldandy had come up with. Mara and Senbee hadn't taken the time to book out.), so Keiichi and Belldandy would be staying with Sean and Mary for the next five days. Peorth had taken every chance she could to be near Keiichi, occasionally flirting with him. Uruz didn't really bother with the trio, she was more busy enjoying the Lodge's gardens instead. Her favorite flower was the lily, and to her delight, she had found the garden managed to cultivate some beautiful hybrids.
    Keiichi wasn't really convinced that Uruz's disguise would work. He thought she looked like a bishonen (pretty boy), sure, but how she managed to keep that chest perfectly flat during their disguise was pretty much anyone's mystery. And there was the issue of the baths. Goddesses had to bathe at least once a day. Sure, there were private baths where couples could share moments alone, public baths where the lot of them could mix, and gender seperated baths for those who were still uncomfortable with seeing their companion's bodies, but it was impossible for Uruz to avoid being naked in any one of them without being in the company of males, because she had registered as the male. And Peorth didn't want to be away from Keiichi even during baths. Keiichi didn't really mind as long as Peorth kept her distance, but it was definitely a problem since the couples were expected to share the same bathing area. Which meant Uruz and Peorth had to be together.

    Keiichi and Belldandy were pretty surprised by the way those two had solved the problem. It wasn't done by any ingenious devices or tricks, it was pure magic. And Belldandy didn't know that spell had existed. Uruz WAS a guy. At least, temporarily. Keiichi wondered who had cast it, but Belldandy didn't mind. It was an interesting spell. New spells were always interesting to her.

*     *     *

    By contrast, at home, it was anything but interesting. Urd had held a few more drunken parties since Belldandy and Keiichi weren't home, and she had used Kewl-Aid kun as a drinks cooler more than once. Skuld was beginning to get annoyed at Urd's blatant abuse of her genius to further Urd's own selfish cause. Skuld could only hope the week passed quicky, so Belldandy could come back and Urd could go pop drugs and drink elsewhere. Skuld was quickly learning how to handle housework when it got too much for her machines to handle. There were only so many parts to go around for her inventions, and Skuld didn't have the money to buy more. She'd (unconsciously) come to think of Keiichi as a sort of printing press for it.
    But she had this nagging feeling in her stomach, and it got stronger as the days went by.

*     *     *

    The days and hours passed quickly. Peorth had respected Keiichi's desire for privacy once in a while to be with Belldandy, and had spent that time talking to Uruz about her future prospects. It was, after all, Peorth's duty as "sensei" to Uruz. It wouldn't be good for her image if Peorth didn't teach Uruz a trick or two. Peorth was pretty glad though, Uruz's chosen Element had been the Earth, hence her love for nature. That made them agreeable in that sense.
    "The first thing about wish granting is that you don't rush them." Peorth said. They were sitting in their room, and two of the futons were rolled up in a corner of the room. Uruz was paying attention like any good student as Peorth paced the room, lecturing. Actually, being a teacher was pretty hard. Peorth had to make sure she got the things she wanted to teach right so Uruz wouldn't go wrong. Of some of those things she taught, she had never been very clear on them herself until she thought of it. She was learning a lot herself. Peorth realized she was pretty ignorant herself in some areas, much to her chagrin. But this helped clear her mind too, and she had forgotten about Keiichi for a while. She could concentrate for once.
    "Then, what about the mind reading part, on...sempai?" Uruz asked. Her/his voice hadn't changed much, since it was a pretty boyish-girl's voice to start with. Peorth thought about this. All Gods and Goddesses on wish granting calls could read the minds of their clients without requiring authorization, just to dispel any doubts their clients would have. Peorth had used this for a little more than the dispelling of doubts in the past, but she really didn't want to go into that now. Uruz had heard about the implications of this ability, and she/he wanted to know if there was anything that had to be avoided.
    "Well, that...." Peorth started.
    And the lesson went on.

*     *     *

    It had been over nearly as it had started, Keiichi realized. A week wasn't a long time when he thought of it, it had been almost like a second. But its memories would last a lifetime, he knew that. He felt better than he had in a year, and it had turned out them sharing rooms with Peorth and Uruz wasn't all that bad. The two of them had plenty of things to share during their nightly storytelling "event", which Belldandy had insisted upon, besides other things.
    They even had karaoke in the lounge with a dozen other men and women. Belldandy had won hands down, of course, with some beautiful song called "Anata no Birthday". The Lodge also held a weekly karaoke competition held on Wednesdays. It had been a fierce fight between Belldandy and Peorth, Uruz and Keiichi, the finalists. Everyone cheered them on.
    Belldandy had chosen a fast paced song, something called "Namida no Imi", which sounded familiar to Keiichi somehow, but he never caught on. Peorth chose a faster paced song "Fortune Smiled on You". They'd almost tied, but Belldandy won by a small margin.
    Keiichi had sung some guitar strung song called "Boku to ikiru koto ga kimi no shiawase", which was a pretty accurate description of something he couldn't quite recall, but felt passionately. Uruz sang "Megami wa Utau", whose meaning wasn't lost on the rest of the finalists. (Megami wa Utau = Goddess Sings)
    But all in all, it had been great. Even the drinking sessions. Keiichi always stopped first, but he knew Belldandy wouldn't get drunk on alcohol, and the other two had a marvellous tolerance for the stuff. Oh yes, it had been great.

*     *     *

    Elsewhere, Mara was busy unwrapping a box wrapped with the skin of some creature we don't want to know about. She had ordered it from an extremely devious catalogue for demons (and extremely devious for a demon was really devious). She was cackling.
    The device looked like a mechanical disc with a huge convex lens on each side, making it look like an eye from the top or bottom. It had a small LCD panel and a keyboard, so Mara could type in some commands. She knew what to do with it, she had intercepted Tamiya's call a while back when she had bugged Heaven's line. (They swept their lines every so often, but Mara's timing was unusually good.)
    "WAAaar har har haa haa!" Mara was laughing, as usual. "This is gonna be goooood!"
    In a corner, Senbee sighed.
    "Senbee know this not good."

{End of Chapter 7}
{Chapter 8 : Interference}