(Steve Stachowicz)
gerrek@hotmail.com
(Matthew Frey)
MAFREY@charter.net
Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/shores/2307
HARD QUESTIONS
by
Eric Thorsen and Stacko
LEGAL STUFF:
** The characters and concepts used in this story are the property
of their creators. Their use here should be seen as a sign of
respect. Everything else is ours.
NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!
CHAPTER ONE
"Where do little Immortals come from?"
Part One
* * * * * *
"What do you mean you want a divorce?" Kevin demanded in shock.
"We've only been married six months, what have I done that is so
terrible?"
"It isn't you, it's me." Makoto said sadly. "I just don't
think I can make this work."
"Divorce isn't the answer Mako-chan." Kevin said pleadingly.
"We need to work this out."
"This isn't something we can work out, Kevin." Makoto
shouted in frustration. "I think we're just not compatible."
"So you're not going to try, is that it?" Kevin sighed,
and then growled when she only nodded. "Fine, if that's the way
you want it. I'll be at the penthouse when you're ready to
proceed. I'm not going to waste my time waiting for you to throw
me out of my own house."
"But..." Makoto gasped, then ducked instinctively as he
slammed out of her room. She slumped onto her bed, staring at
the door, confusion and fear flooding her mind. "What have I
done?"
She murmured to herself, and then rolled into a fetal ball
as feelings of failure and self-loathing crashed in on her and
she started sobbing uncontrollably. After half an hour, her
tears dried up and she reached for her cell phone.
"Schwartzstern residence, Miyuki speaking." A happy voice
at the other end said.
"Miyuki, this is Makoto, is Ami there?" Makoto said
hurriedly, trying to keep her voice under control.
"I'm sorry Makoto, Scott and Ami just left on a date."
Miyuki said uncomfortably. "Are you all right? Is there
something I could do to help? You sound awful."
"I ... I just asked Kevin for a divorce, Miyuki." Makoto
blurted out.
"You did what?" Miyuki demanded angrily. "Makoto, how
could you? Kevin has been in love with you for seven hundred
years! He even fought a dragon for you, not to mention his
best friend, and you ask him for a divorce? I thought you
loved him!"
"I do Miyuki." Makoto sobbed. "Everything was perfect
before, but now it's a total disaster. Please tell Ami not to
worry about me, I'll be fine. Good-bye."
"Makoto, wait..." Miyuki's voice cut off as Makoto
disconnected, then turned her cell phone off.
Shame and misery washed over her again, consuming her
attention to the point that she had already filled the bath and
was into her robe before she even realized she was going to take
a bath. She shrugged absently and was about to get into the tub
when her cell phone rang.
"I thought I turned that blasted thing off." She muttered
to herself as she retied her robe and went back into her room.
"Hello, this is Makoto O'Connell."
"Hello, may I speak to a miss Makoto Kino?" A young
sounding voice asked shyly. "It's very important."
"I am Makoto Kino, or at least I was, how can I help you?"
Makoto asked interested. "Who is speaking please?"
"Oh, my name is Skuld." The young girl on the other end
said in obvious embarrassment. "I was calling to inform you
that you've been selected by the Goddess Relief Office to receive
a free wish. Please stay where you are, and a representitive
will be with you shortly." The voice on the other end cut off,
leaving Makoto staring at the phone.
"Darn prank callers." Makoto muttered to herself as she
walked back into the bathroom. She was about to take her robe
off when she saw a whirlpool form in the water and stumbled back
as a young girl came out of it. She finally came to rest in a
corner and watched as the girl steeped onto the tiles and went
into the bedroom. Makoto shivered in fear as she heard the girl
call her name, then gasped in indignation when she heard her
something that sounded like "Stupid mortals". Jumping to her
feet and straightening her robe, she stormed into the room
angrily. "Just who do you think you are, just coming in here
like that!" She demanded angrily, ducking under the surprised
swing the girl made as she spun around.
"Who are you?" The girl demanded in return. "Where did
you come from?"
"I'm Makoto Kino-O'Connell." Makoto replied, calming
herself down. "Were you looking for someone? I was in the
bathroom when you arrived. Who are you anyway?"
"Oops, Belldandy's going to be mad I didn't check the
landing site first." The girl muttered to herself, then blushed.
"I'm sorry, my name is Skuld, I just spoke to you on your phone.
I'm here to grant your wish."
Makoto just stared at the young girl in front of her as she
thought about what she'd just said. Suddenly a bubble of laughter
burst out of her mouth and she simply stood there laughing as the
girl just looked at her expectantly. Makoto stopped laughing in
confusion.
"Excuse me, but could you hurry up please?" Skuld pleaded.
"I'm supposed to help my sister clean up today." Makoto started
laughing hysterically at how silly that sounded, and after a
minute, Skuld started to get annoyed. "What is so funny?" She
demanded.
Makoto couldn't stop laughing as the stress she had been
under finally overcame her. Skuld eyed her for a moment, then,
worried, grabbed her hand and dragged her into the bathroom and
through her transport medium, coming out in the kitchen of the
shrine.
"Skuld, what are you doing?" Belldandy asked in surprise.
"You know how sick your medium can make mortals." Makoto stopped
laughing suddenly, staring around her with wide eyes.
"Oh Belldandy, I didn't know what else to do." Skuld gasped.
"She couldn't stop laughing and ... she stopped!" Makoto stared
blankly at the room, her mouth moving, but no sound coming out.
"Excuse me, Miss, are you alright?" Belldandy asked in
concern, becoming worried when Makoto didn't answer.
"Hello?" Skuld said worriedly as she waved her hand in
front of Makoto's face. When this got no response, she tried to
shake Makoto. Unfortunately that was when Makoto's eye's rolled
back in her head as she collapsed into unconsciousness.
"Uh oh." Skuld said, turning to Belldandy who helped her
move Makoto to the spare room. Belldandy's eyes were filled with
worry.
* * * * *
"Are you sure she wasn't going somewhere else?" Ami asked
Miyuki as Scott pulled to a stop in front of Drakkenheim castle.
"You did say that the caller ID said it was her cell phone she was
calling from."
"She was in her bedroom here." Miyuki replied simply. "I
could hear that weird clock Kevin gave her as a wedding present
ticking in the back ground."
"Well, there's one way to find out." Scott said, knocking
on the door. When Jervis came to the door, he smiled at the three
visitors.
"Hello Master Scott, Ladies." Jervis said happily. "Master
Kevin is out at the moment, but Mistress Makoto is at home. I'm
sure she would welcome visitors."
"Don't ring her Jervis." Scott said as the butler reached
for the intercom switch. "We want to surprise her."
"Of course sir." Jervis replied, his smile getting wider.
"May I suggest that you wait here then sir, while the young ladies
go up to fetch her? Your presence would give you away I believe."
"Good idea Jervis." Miyuki said, smiling at Scott who was
looking rebellious. "We wouldn't want anything to give us away."
Scott finally nodded his acceptance and slipped into Kevin's
office, which was as far as he could get from the master suite
and still be in the castle.
Miyuki and Ami took the stairs as quickly and quietly as they
could and crept up to Makoto's door. After listening at the door
for several seconds, and Miyuki shook her head, indicating she hadn't
heard anything. Ami pulled out her computer and scanned the room,
but shook her head when she saw the bathroom was shielded. They
opened the door as silently as they could and made their way to
the bathroom. When they saw that the room was empty, they ran
back to the office.
"She's gone." Ami said as they came in. "But how did she
get past Jervis?"
"I don't know, but if she was as broken up as Miyuki said,
we can't waste time trying to figure it out." Scott replied.
"I'll try to get Kevin back here while you contact the others."
As Ami reached for her communicator, Miyuki suddenly grabbed her
wrist.
"Did you detect Makoto's communicator in her bedroom
during that scan?" Miyuki asked when Ami and Scott looked at
her questioningly. After Ami shook her head, she smiled. "She
is probably still wearing it then. It would probably be a good
idea to avoid calling her attention to it then, since it's our
only link to her right now."
"You're probably right Miyuki." Ami sighed. "I'll use the
telephone then, though I hope everyone's at home now, or I won't
be able to get hold of them."
* * * * *
Fifteen minutes later, the Senshi and Planetary Knights,
except Kevin, who Scott hadn't been able to find, were gathered
in the parlor of the castle.
"What's going on?" Usagi asked as she looked around in
confusion. "Where are Makoto and Kevin?"
"That's why we called you all here." Ami replied. "We
didn't tell you earlier because we were afraid it would cause
too much delay, but Makoto has disappeared."
"What do you mean 'disappeared'?" Haruka demanded.
"Doesn't she have her communicator?"
"Yes she does, but we're afraid to use it because she
might get rid of it." Scott replied, shaking his head negatively.
"You see, we have reason to believe Makoto may not be thinking too
clearly."
"What do you mean?" Michiru asked, worry creeping into her
voice.
"He means Makoto asked me for a divorce this afternoon."
Kevin said from the doorway. "And from your presence here and
your conversation, you can't find her either."
"Instead of talking about this, we should be out looking
for Makoto." Minako said angrily. "We don't know what she'll
do in the state she's in."
"If she hasn't already." Kevin added with a horrified
expression.
"Don't even think it." Minako growled. "You're responsible
for Makoto's state of mind anyway. If you hadn't been ignoring
her attempts to get you to notice her suitability as your wife,
she wouldn't have been trying to get pregnant for the last three
months!"
Kevin swore, while Scott and Ami gasped at this revelation.
"Oh Lord, it begins to make sense now." Kevin moaned bleakly.
"No wonder she feels we're not compatible."
"You didn't tell her about that?" Scott asked in surprise.
"Me?" Kevin replied in shock. "You were the one telling
her about what it meant to be Immortal."
"What are you two babbling about?" Haruka demanded. "What
is it you didn't tell her?"
"Immortals can't have children." Ami explained flatly.
"Not that they don't, they simply can't. That was one of the
things I had to deal with once I decided to marry Scott. I
thought one of these idiots had explained it to Makoto already,
but they obviously didn't."
"That won't help her now though." Michiru said in a no
nonsense tone. "We don't have any time to waste. I suggest we
search the grounds. Without any money or transportation, she
can't have gotten very far." The Senshi agreed instantly and
soon everyone was out in the forest surrounding the castle,
searching. After five hours, a dishearted group met back at
the castle. They were so caught up in worry over Makoto that
they jumped when Kevin's cell phone rang.
"O'Connell." Kevin said absently, becoming excited after
a few seconds. "Thanks Vernon, you don't know how important
this news is." He disconnected and jumped out of his chair,
rushing to where Luna was laying on the couch and woke her up.
"Wozzat?" Luna said sleepily, and then blinked up at Kevin.
"What is it?"
"I need to know, do the communicators the Senshi have,
still use Interspacial links?" Kevin asked impatiently. "It's
important."
"Of course they do." Luna grumbled, annoyed at being woken
up. "It's the only way we could find to keep the transmissions
secure."
"Excellent, now one more question and you can go back to
sleep." Kevin sighed in relief. "Can Makoto's transmitter be
activated remotely?"
"Of course." Luna groused sleepily. "Sailor Mercury just
needs to type the code into her computer and transmit it." She
recited a long series of numbers, which Ami wrote down, then
Luna fell asleep again.
"Mind telling us what that was all about?" Scott asked
in confusion.
"Skywatch is up." Kevin said, running to the war room
and bringing up the Holographic Projector.
"What the hell is Skywatch?" Miyuki demanded. "And what
does it have to do with anything?"
"Skywatch is a project Kevin and Washu have been working
on for six months." Scott replied as they followed Kevin into
the room. "It's designed to detect interdimensional and interspatial
disruptions anywhere on Earth."
"After Annie almost destroyed everything, Washu wanted to make
sure no one snuck up on us again." Kevin said absently as he typed
rapidly. "So she got together with Vernon Comrie and after he got
over her apparent age, they came up with Skywatch. From what Washu
said, no one would even be able to sent a dust particle through a
portal without us knowing where and when."
"And you're going to use it to find Makoto?" Michiru said
with a smile. "Very ingenious Kevin."
"Don't congratulate me yet." Kevin sighed as a globe appeared
in the holo-tank. "If you would activate Makoto's transmitter
please Ami? Now we find out is all this will do us any good."
As Ami finished typing in the activation code, two things
happened. A purple dot appeared on the globe, which stopped
rotating, and a soft breathing could be heard over everyone's
communicators, accompanied by a soft, rhythmic clicking sound.
"Well, now we know she's alive." Scott said in relief as
Kevin zoomed the image in. "But what is that clicking sound?"
"Knitting needles." Chibi-Usa said, and then blushed when
everyone stared at her. "A friend of my mommy's always came to
help whenever I was sick. While she watched me, she would knit.
That's exactly what it sounded like."
"I'll take your word for it, Princess." Kevin said absently
as the image zoomed in and the purple dot separated into a bright
red one and a dark blue one. He typed a little more and an
intensity scale appeared next to each dot. "Alright, it looks
like that red dot is about seven or eight times stronger than the
blue one. The question is, would the transmitter or receiver
produce a stronger disruption." Then Senshi stared at him for
several seconds, and then Michiru swatted him on the back of the
head.
"For an intelligent guy, you can be pretty stupid, Kevin."
She chuckled. "Why don't you just look where each dot is? That
high intensity reading looks like it's near here."
"That's because it is." Kevin chuckled self-consciously
after he overlaid a map on the image. "I'm just wondering how
Makoto got to a spot seventy-five kilometers away in six hours.
None of the cars or bikes are missing and Luna would have known
if she'd used her Senshi powers." He zoomed the image in on the
blue dot, and then turned questioningly to Rei who'd gasped in
shock.
"She's at Nekomi Shrine." Rei said by way of explanation.
"Grandpa told me that a couple of years ago, the shrine there was
about to be condemned, when it was miraculously restored. Ever
since, then strange things have been going on there, but no
priest has bothered to check it out since an overwhelming sense
of goodness is coming from it."
"But why would she go to Nekomi Shrine?" Usagi asked.
Rei was about to answer when they all heard a door panel slide
open over their communicators as the clicking sound stopped.
"Any change?" A young male voice asked in concern from
somewhere near Makoto.
"No, Keichi." A warm female voice said. "She's been
asleep for almost six hours now. That's not too unusual
considering the shock of her trip here." Everyone was paying
so much attention to the conversation no one noticed the light
of recognition and excitement that came into Chibi-Usa's eyes.
"I can believe that." Keichi said in sympathy. "Do you
have any idea why she fainted Belldandy?" Chibi-Usa forced
herself to stay quiet at the confirmation of her suspicion.
"Not really, Keichi." Belldandy sighed sadly. "Skuld said
she couldn't stop laughing, which sounds like she became hysterical.
If she were, that would explain why the shock would cause her to
faint. My largest concern is that she hasn't woken up yet. Even
an unexpected transit shouldn't cause a coma."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Keichi asked, and
then yawned.
"No Keichi, you should go to sleep." Belldandy replied
with a sigh. "You have classes tomorrow."
"If you're sure." Keichi said, and then could be heard
opening the door again. "'Night Belldandy."
"Good night Keichi." Belldandy replied, as the door slid
closed. The clicking sound started soon after.
"Well, at least we know she's being taken care of." Hotaru
said, most of the Senshi nodded in agreement, but Rei still looked
concerned.
"But why did the trip to Nekomi cause such a shock?" She
asked. "And how did they get there so fast? Miyuki said she
talked to Makoto on the phone six hours ago. She would have to
have arrived almost immediately afterward."
"Are you sure she called from here?" Minako asked. "She
could have already been on her way there."
"No, her phone is still here." Kevin replied shaking his
head. "Besides, from what I can gather, she called right after
I left. Unless she was invisible, there is no way she could have
gotten past me."
"What I want to know is how this situation got so bad."
Kiersten said in confusion. "Our bonds are supposed to stop
this kind of thing from happening."
"The only answer I can come up with is something Setsuna
said after she found out your bond was active." Michiru told
Kevin. "She was worried that your bond wasn't fully active because
it opened on it's own. She said a fully active bond made it
impossible to hide your emotions from your companion, but with
only part of it active, that wouldn't be the case."
"Which means either I wasn't listening closely enough, or
Makoto was blocking me." Kevin said bleakly, obviously blaming
himself.
"No, it was definitely impossible for you to block Makoto
out if she was sending emotions." Michiru clarified. "But if
she was blocking her emotions from going out unconsciously and
you didn't seem to be noticing, she might have thought you didn't
care."
"Great, that means she won't trust me is we do find her."
Kevin said shaking his head. "Ami, you're probably one of the
few people she'll believe about this, so I guess you'll have to
be the one to tell her."
"I can try, but if she doesn't believe me, Usagi may be our
last chance." Ami replied.
"I think it would be better if just the three of us went at
first." Scott cautioned. "We don't want to make the people at
the shrine nervous."
"Okay." Minako reluctantly agreed. "But you had better let
us know what happens at the meeting tomorrow." Scott nodded, and
Kevin saw the others out.
"Okay, so I guess first thing tomorrow morning, we go check
this shrine out." Kevin said after he came back. "Do you want
to go home or stay here tonight?"
"I think if you want to get an early start, we'll have to
stay here." Ami replied.
"Besides, it'll let you keep an eye on me to make sure I
don't try anything, right?" Kevin chuckled.
"Absolutely." Scott laughed. "So don't. Beside, we all
need some sleep."
"Okay, I'll see you both tomorrow then." Kevin yawned,
and went to his bedroom. Ami and Scott went to the suite Kevin
kept for their use and were soon asleep.
* * * * *
Belldandy sat humming softly to herself, knitting a sweater
for their guest, when she suddenly started struggling with her
blanket and talking in her sleep. Belldandy watched her closely,
listening carefully, but only words she could make out sounded
like a name and the word 'no'. What concerned her was the fear
she felt coming from the young girl. She was about to use a calming
spell when she felt the fear slide away, replaced by love and peace.
Their guest calmed down instantly, and stayed that way until Urd
arrived to give Belldandy a break.
"Would it be okay if I gave her a bath and changed her clothes?"
Urd asked looking down at the girl. "No offense, but your clothes
are a little small for her on top Bell. Besides, from what I heard,
she was planning on taking a bath when Skuld brought her here anyway.
It's been a while since then, so she probably needs a bath even more
now."
"That would be nice of you Urd." Belldandy said with a
smile for her sister's attempt to hide her concern for their
guest. She had changed into her nightgown when she heard Urd
swearing in the bedroom.
"What is it Urd?" Belldandy asked in concern as she walked
into the bathroom, then gasped at what she saw. Scars crisscrossed
Makoto's body, obviously from some kind of bladed weapon, and in
the center of her chest there was a pale burn scar shaped like a
starburst that was worked into a tattoo to hide it from casual
glances. "Who would do something like this to her?" She asked
in revulsion.
"Only some kind of twisted animal." Urd said angrily.
"Was there any clue from what Skuld told you of their meeting?"
"Skuld said that she had hidden from her initially, but
that was probably more from the surprise at Skuld's unexpected
appearance than anything else." Belldandy replied in concern.
"She had a nightmare about someone named Kevin, but I don't
know what was involved."
"Well, at least Skuld got her out of there." Urd said,
anger still obvious. "If this 'Kevin' shows up though, I'll
give him a taste of his own medicine."
"Now Urd ..." Belldandy began, but was interrupted by a
glare from Urd.
"He could have easily killed her, Bell." She growled.
"If he gets hold of her again, he still could. I'm not willing
to let that happen."
"Just be careful Urd." Belldandy sighed. "You might be
on probation for another hundred years if you kill a mortal,
however much he deserves it." She patted Urd's hand and went
back to her room.
"It might actually be worth it this time." Urd said to
herself as she finished gathering Makoto. After dressing her
in one of her own nightgowns, Urd put her back in bed. "Don't
worry little one, he'll have to get passed me to hurt you again."
* * * * *
After breakfast the next morning, Keichi went to class and
Belldandy went about her daily chores while Urd organized her
potions and watched Makoto. Skuld burst in to the guest room just
as Urd put away her most delicate potions, waving a strange device
around.
"What do you think you're doing?" Urd demanded in annoyance.
"There's an interspacial transmitter in here." Skuld replied,
sweeping her detector over the room. "No one on this planet has
known about those for two thousand years. But why would she have
one in her watch?" She asked in confusion when she found Makoto's
communicator.
"I think I know why." Urd growled. "Can you turn it off?"
"Not without breaking it." Skuld replied nervously. "That
would be too dangerous here. I could shield it though."
"You do that Skuld." Urd said, hugging her little sister.
"I have to talk to Bell."
"How is Makoto doing Urd?" Belldandy asked turning to her
sister with a smile, which vanished when she saw Urd's expression.
"What's wrong?"
"That bastard Kevin installed a tracking device in her watch."
Urd seethed angrily. "He probably knows exactly where to find her
now."
"But how did it survive transit?" Belldandy asked in confusion.
"No device known in this time can do that."
"No, but interspacial transmitters can." Skuld said, bringing
Makoto's communicator and a box into the room. "They're virtually
indestructible and only the right controller can turn them off. But
you can shield them." She dropped the communicator into the box and
closed it.
"Good, now we make preparations in case he's already on the
way." Urd said in satisfaction as she walked to her room.
"We did, but if he found one, he could have reverse engineered
it." Skuld replied with a shiver at the thought. "It could also
mean that he's close to being able to open gates. If he's evil as
Urd thinks, that would be bad." Belldandy and Skuld exchanged a
worried glance and Belldandy turned off the stove as Skuld started
her own preparations.
* * * * *
"How did they find it?" Scott asked in shock, staring at
the now empty map of Nekomi.
"I don't know, but I'm not getting any signal at all."
Ami replied, shaking her head.
"Hopefully they don't move her before we get there." Kevin
said as he grabbed his coat. Minutes later, Kevin's DB7 and Scott's
959 were racing toward Nekomi.
* * * * *
Makoto regained conciousness with a start, confused by her
surroundings. As she opened her eyes, she saw a familiar woman
beside her bed knitting. "What's going on?" She asked her in
confusion.
"Oh good, you're awake." Belldandy replied. "Would you
like some juice? You must be thirsty." Makoto nodded, and she
poured her a glass. After Makoto finished she took the glass
back, then smiled at her. "My sister, Skuld, said you were very
upset before she brought you here. Can you tell me what upset
you?"
"Upset?" Makoto asked in confusion. "I don't really
remember. I don't even remember who Skuld is, though I feel
I should."
"Do you know your name?" Belldandy asked in concern.
"Sure." Makoto replied, surprised. "I'm Natasha Damek,
why do you ask?"
"I was just making sure you didn't have amnesia."
Belldandy said, smiling reassuringly. "We noticed that you have
a lot of scars. Do you remember where they came from?"
"No." Makoto replied, shaking her head. "I hope they're
not too bad, Ziggy won't like it if someone really marked me up."
"Ziggy?" Belldandy asked in interest. "Who's that?"
"His real name is Siegmund Anthony Drakkar, but his friends
call him Ziggy." Makoto replied with a dreamy smile. "He's the
love of my life."
"It's wonderful that you have someone who cares for you."
Belldandy said with a smile. "Do you remember anyone named Kevin?"
"Not really." Makoto sighed after a few minutes thought.
"He might be one of the palace guards at home, but I don't
remember off hand. Why?"
"You've just been calling that name in your sleep."
Belldandy said in a mild tone. "It was probably just a dream.
What palace were you talking about when you said he might be a
guard?"
"The palace at Bewolkberg, on Jupiter of course." Makoto
replied giggling a little. "That's where I grew up."
"That's lovely." Belldandy replied, keeping her confusion
out of her voice. She smiled sympathetically when Makoto yawned
hugely. "You must be very tired, so I will let you get your rest."
Under her breath, Belldandy muttered a sleep spell and a few moments
later Makoto was sleeping peacefully. Belldandy then went looking
for Skuld, smiling when she found her working on Banpei.
"Hi Belldandy, did you come to see how Banpei's new
modifications work?" Skuld asked in excitement. She lost
some of it when Belldandy shook her head, but smiled questioningly.
"What can I do for you then?"
"Our patient is awake." Belldandy explained, finally
letting her confusion out. "I was talking to her about the
scars on her body, but her answers just brought more questions.
Could you have Yggdrasil run some searches for me?"
"Sure, what are we looking for?" Skuld asked, setting
her tools down and logging onto the network.
"We're looking for a person named Natasha Damek."
Belldandy replied smiling at Skuld's confused expression.
"Cross reference it with the city of Bewolkberg and eliminate
Earth from the search."
"Eliminate Earth?" Skuld asked, turning toward Belldandy
in her confusion. "Who is this Natasha person anyway?"
"Our patient gave me that name when she woke up." Belldandy
replied. "That is why I want you to run this search, to see if she
is who she says she is."
"Okay, but this doesn't make any sense." Skuld said as she
finished typing and started the search. "No one has lived
anywhere but Earth for two thousand years." She jumped when her
computer chimed, then gulped when it showed only one record had
been found.
"Hopefully this will help clear things up." Belldandy said
as Skuld accessed the file.
"I don't see how." Skuld replied, reading the file. "This
says that Natasha Damek was born in Bewolkberg on Jupiter in 19 B.C..
There is no way she could still be alive. Besides, Makoto is
nineteen." She continued to scan the record and gasped when
she saw one parameter flashing bright red.
"What is it?" Belldandy asked in surprise.
"Her record is corrupted." Skuld said typing frantically.
"Some of the damage is permanent, but some can be repaired once we
find the cause. See Sailor Senshi Records? What do they have to
do with this?" Skuld stared at the note for several seconds then
ran a search for those records.
"What happened?" Belldandy asked. "Why is her file
corrupted?"
"According to this, Natasha Damek was one of sixteen mortal
warriors who died during the last incursion." Skuld replied,
staring at the corruption levels listed for each record. "They
were all being transferred to the Valhalla roles when something
forced Yggdrasil to perform a subsystem reset."
"But that would mean the files were lost." Belldandy gasped,
horrified. "Where did they find them?"
"In the Unborn roles." Skuld replied. "Or at least fifteen
of them. There was one still in the living realm for some reason,
so the reset didn't have as much effect on his file. It was still
corrupted though. As for the others, you know as well as I do that
all of the files in the Unborn Roles are off limits, so they had to
be reborn, which means ..."
"Which means all of their files are corrupted to some degree
and most of them have permanent file damage." Urd finished from
the doorway, shrugging when her sisters looked at her questioningly.
"Why are you looking at the Senshi files?"
"Our patient thinks that she's one of them." Belldandy
replied, smiling when Urd stared at her. "I was trying to find
out whether it was even possible."
"I thought you said her name was Makoto Kino." Urd said
to Skuld who was typing rapidly.
"It is." Skuld replied defensively, and then cheered when
she found what she was looking for. "Natasha Damek was reborn in
1982 as Makoto Kino. I knew she was the right person."
"Does it have any information on a Siegmund Anthony Drakkar?"
Belldandy asked. "That was her fiancée's name, or at least so she
says."
"Yeah, he's here." Skuld replied, scanning the file list.
"According to this they are soul-bonded. They also have equal
levels of file corruption, around 45%. Their corruption is also
the highest. The next is Gerrek Garid Bontrager at 39%."
"They went up?" Urd demanded. "When I found them only that
Bontrager guy was that high. The rest of them were down below 25%."
"What do you mean Urd?" Belldandy asked in confusion.
"The subsystem rest happened while Delphineus was training
me as a backup system administrator." Urd answered. "For a
while, I thought I had caused it, but we soon found out an
outside force had caused it."
"But, the force necessary to cause a subsystem reset is
enormous." Belldandy protested." It would take all of the
energy of a small star."
"Try the life force energy of eight planets and one small
moon." Urd supplied, smiling grimly when Belldandy gasped. "I
found the Senshi's files a short time later. Delphineus was
banished about the same time."
"How awful." Belldandy said, still in shock. "You say
two of their corruption levels have gotten worse? What about
the others?"
"They're still between twenty and twenty-three." Skuld
replied. "The three I mentioned are the only ones with levels
that high." At that moment a knock was heard at the front gate
and Belldandy and Skuld looked pleadingly at Urd.
"All right, I'll go answer it." Urd grumbled, walking
toward the gate.
"Could you check what Siegmund Drakkar's name is now?"
Belldandy asked Skuld as Urd left. "Maybe he can help us
figure this problem out."
* * * * *
"Are you sure this is the place?" Kevin asked after he got
out of his car at the Shrine gate. "It doesn't look like its six
hundred years old."
"You're right." Ami replied, looking at the shrine in
amazement. "But if you look at the construction of the roof
line and some of the wall details you can tell that the shrine
was constructed sometime in the fifteenth century. The owners
have done a wonderful job restoring it though."
"If you two are done with your long distance architectural
analysis, maybe we can find out about Makoto?" Scott said
pointedly. Kevin and Ami blushed guiltily, and then laughed
as he walked toward the gate. "Some people." Scott muttered
to himself as he knocked. After a short time, a woman who
appeared Scandinavian opened the gate.
"May I help you?" She asked, her annoyance obvious.
"Yes, actually. We were wondering if we might speak
with a Belldandy." Scott said politely. "We would like to
ask her some questions."
"She's very busy." Urd said suspiciously. "May I ask
what this is about?"
"We're looking for a friend of ours and have reason to
believe Belldandy might know where to find her." Scott replied
calmly. "My name is Scott Schwartzstern and this is my fiancée
Ami."
"You may come into the courtyard while I ask her if she'll
see you, but that's all I can promise." Urd said, then opened
the gate to allow them in. Scott, Ami, and Kevin followed her
to the entrance of the shrine keeper's cottage before she asked
Kevin his name.
"Oh, sorry about that." Kevin said in embarrassment. "My
name is Kevin O'Connell." The next thing he knew he was flying
through the air. Tucking into a roll, he landed and turned to
see what was going on, ducking as a fireball slammed into the
wall behind him.
"You think you're so smart, don't you, you bastard." Urd
growled. "Using your friends to get you in. Well, now you're
in trouble, 'cause I'm going to teach you not to turn young girls
into sex toys." Another fireball hit the wall behind him as he
rolled out of the way. To Urd's amazement, he dodged every
fireball she threw at him and had almost reached the safety of
the house when she gave up on the fireballs and hit him with a
full power Levin Bolt. The powerful energy blast caught him
and smashed him into the garden wall just as Belldandy ran out
of the house yelling for Urd to stop.
"Oh Urd, what have you done?" She gasped as Kevin fell
limply to the ground. "It was all a misunderstanding. Kevin
is Makoto's husband."
"That is no excuse for what he did to her, Belldandy."
Urd said in disbelief, starting towards Kevin's still form, but
stopping when she found herself blocked by Wolf Knight and
Sailor Mercury.
"And what did he do that deserved an unprovoked attack?"
Sailor Mercury demanded angrily.
"We found a number of blade scars on Makoto's body."
Belldandy replied, trying to calm everyone down. "Urd thought
Kevin had been abusing her."
"Why would she think that?" Wolf Knight asked in disbelief.
"She doesn't even know how Makoto got those scars. The least you
could have done was ask him about it before attacking him." Urd
started to protest but Skuld interrupted her by clearing her throat.
"I'm sorry, but it looks like Urd won't get the chance now."
She said with a nervous expression. "He's dead."
"Well, too bad for him." Urd said angrily, but with a satisfied
tone. "At least he won't do that to anyone else." She jumped in
surprise when Wolf Knight started glowing with a bright blue light.
"Lady, give me one good reason I shouldn't turn you into a
bleeding pulp right now!" He growled, the blue light around him
separating and starting to rotate. "Makoto and Kevin are Kendo
masters. She got those scars during live blade practice." The
spinning energy gained speed quickly as his anger increased.
"Don't kill her, please." Belldandy pleaded, stepping
toward her sister in concern. "It won't help anything."
"It'll make me feel better though." Wolf replied as the
energy coalesced into a spinning column of force blades. "Why
should I let someone this dangerous live?"
"Because I'm going to kill her." Kevin said with a cough.
Urd, Belldandy, and Skuld stared at him in shock, and Ami used
the distraction to transformed back and to slip into the cottage.
"Or I will once my head stops hurting." He stood up and sagged
against the wall, holding his head as if he thought it would
explode.
"But he was dead!" Skuld protested. "I used the spell
exactly the way Belldandy showed me!"
"There is a big difference between mostly dead and all
dead, Little Lady." Kevin said chuckling softly. "Lucky for
you I was only mostly dead, since I left most of my loose change
at home."
Scott groaned at Kevin's joke, then transformed as Skuld
giggled in delight. Urd stared at him in shock as he came toward
her, and then closed her eyes as his fist came toward her face.
Winking at Skuld who had jumped to her feet, he pulled the punch
and only pinched her nose. Skuld and Scott fell to the ground
laughing as Belldandy giggled.
"Never judge anyone without the facts." Kevin cautioned Urd,
taping her on the nose. "You might discover you were wrong too late."
Urd nodded contritely then helped Kevin into the house. After he was
settled into an armchair, Kevin smiled and waved at the three goddesses,
who were staring at him.
"What?" He asked in mock horror after several moments of
silence. "What's wrong? Is there dirt on my Face?" Everyone
chuckled at that and relaxed a little.
"How did you survive that?" Urd asked him finally. "I
would have sworn that Levin Bolt would have killed most gods."
"Lucky for me, I'm not a god." Kevin said, laughing softly.
His laughter turned into a painful cough. After he recovered, he
sighed in misery. "You know, I wish that, just once, a beautiful
woman would greet me in a way, other than by trying to kill me."
Running feet could be heard from the hallway, and Makoto burst out
into the living room, knocking Kevin over with a flying tackle.
She then proceeded to shower him with kisses.
"Wish granted." Urd chuckled wryly as a flustered Ami
followed Makoto in, and then stopped when she saw where Makoto
was.
"Gerrek, I need a word with you ... now!" Ami said to
Scott with a meaningful look. Scott looked at her in confusion,
and then followed her out of the room.
"Oh, Ziggy, I'm so glad you're here." Makoto sighed as she
sat on his lap after he had righted his chair. "I knew you
wouldn't miss our party."
"Which party would that be Princess?" Kevin asked in
surprise.
"Why our betrothal party of course, silly." Makoto said,
frowning in disappointment, which Kevin felt over their link.
"Siegmund Anthony Drakkar, don't you dare tell me that you forgot
about your own betrothal party."
"Of course not my love." Kevin whispered, hugging her and
sending surges of reassurance over their bond. "I was just
teasing you, but don't you think your mother might disapprove of
the fact that you're sitting in my lap in your nightie before the
wedding?" Makoto yelped as he imagined pinching her bottom and
sent the image over their bond. Blushing hotly, she jumped off
of his lap and ran down the hallway and passed Scott and Ami.
"What did you do to her?" Urd demanded, glaring at Kevin.
"I just reminded her of her proprieties." Kevin chuckled.
"Now does someone mind telling me why my wife thinks we're having
a betrothal party?"
"As far as I could tell, before she ran out of here, she
thinks we're back in the past." Ami replied. "Back before Beryl
issued her ultimatum." Kevin stared at her for several moments,
then yawned hugely.
"Great." Kevin laughed, shaking his head. "Well, at least
she isn't asking me for a divorce anymore. Is it just me or is
anyone else suddenly tired?"
"If you don't mind my asking, why was she asking for a
divorce?" Urd asked in disbelief. "It didn't seem like there
was any physical problems, and since you say her scars are from
sword practice, why?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Kevin said with a shrug.
"All I really know is that she felt our marriage was a failure,
part of it was that she'd been trying to get pregnant for the last
three months without success."
"How sad." Belldandy said. "Was there anything the doctors
could tell you?"
"It's impossible." Skuld said coming into the room with a
handful of printouts. She stopped when she noticed everyone
staring at her. "What?"
"What are you talking about?" Urd asked her little sister.
"This corruption pattern." Skuld replied. "It's like three
groups of people decided how they wanted to produce super human
warriors and all three schemes were used on the same files. It's
crazy."
"Are we talking about the same files that we saw before?"
Belldandy asked in concern, glancing at Scott, Kevin, and Ami.
Skuld only nodded.
"What kind of files are you talking about?" Kevin asked
in interest. "Maybe I can help?"
"I doubt it." Urd said with a smirk. Ami glared at her
and Scott laughed at Urd's haughty expression and shook his head.
"Don't be so sure." Scott said, still laughing. "You
don't know what Kevin is capable of."
"This is something that is probably beyond him, Garien."
Belldandy sighed. "But perhaps he can, I've learned to never
underestimate your friends."
"How do you know that name?" Scott demanded in surprise,
staring at Belldandy. "Are what do you know about my friends?"
"Come now Garien." Belldandy giggled. "You can hardly
expect me to have forgotten that night in the forest, though
I'm not surprised you don't remember, it has been fifteen
hundred years after all."
"What is she talking about Scott?" Ami asked angrily.
Scott only shrugged in confusion. "What happened in that
forest?"
"Only a kiss Ami, if I may call you that." Belldandy
reassured her. "But what a kiss."
"What are you talking about Lady?" Scott asked, even
more confused.
"Really Garien, I'm surprised." Belldandy said smiling.
"It's not everyday that you stumble onto an ancient celebration
for the Goddess of the Present. If memory serves, we were in
Norway and you danced with every girl there, then ended the night
by kissing the shyest one. I'm surprised you forgot something
like that."
Scott started drinking his tea as he racked his brain, trying
to remember. He suddenly choked as the memory surfaced, and he just
stared at Belldandy in shock. Ami glared at him again, her
expression telling him he had a lot of explaining to do.
"Wasn't that shortly before Father ordered you to be
rejuvenated?" Urd asked Belldandy, who blushed hotly. "Something
about following a mortal around like a lost puppy?"
"That was you following me?" Scott said angrily, causing
Belldandy to bite her lip.
"I was trying to protect you from a demon." Belldandy said
defensively. When Urd looked at her questioningly she explained.
"Maarler was chasing him."
"Why would she follow him?" Urd asked in surprise. "He's
not even her type. He's too nice."
"She was trying to seduce him." Belldandy replied, blushing
when Scott looked at her in shock. "She knew he had kissed me,
and was trying for revenge."
"And when a mortal kisses a goddess ..." Urd said in shock
then gagged. "No wonder you were following him everywhere. I
hope you banished her before you got rejuvenated. "Belldandy
nodded and Urd sighed in relief.
"Excuse me, but did you just say your sister was a goddess?"
Ami asked in confusion, staring at the two women.
"Oh, I'm sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves." Belldandy
gasped in apology. "This is my older sister Urd, my younger sister
Skuld, and I am Belldandy. We are the Goddesses of the Past, the
Future, and the Present respectively." Urd looked at her in
surprise and was about to say something when Kevin snorted in
disbelief.
"You expect us to believe that Rambette the Ogre Slayer her,
and the kid, cute as she is, are goddesses?" Kevin said shaking
his head. "I'm sorry, but unlike you, they don't fit the image."
"Watch it buster." Urd growled. "I may just decide to
correct my mistake and make you all dead." Skuld nodded in
agreement, glaring at him.
"Calm down people." Scott said, the argument bringing him
out of his shocked state. "Since I have no doubt in my mind that
you are what you say you are, especially after what I saw outside,
I really only have one question. Why aren't you running the
universe instead of bothering with us?"
"Part of it is that Makoto's condition might be Skuld's
fault, or at least partly." Urd said, waving her hand when Skuld
stuck her tongue out at her." Besides that, part of our job is
to correct file corruption whenever we can."
"File corruption?" Kevin said, interested. "You mentioned
that earlier. What kind of computer files are we talking about
here?" Skuld looked questioningly at her sisters, then sighed
when Urd shrugged and Belldandy nodded.
"Every being that has, or will ever live, is represented
by a system file in the Yggdrasil Network." Skuld began. "These
files contain their entire existence and they change as that person
makes choices. Because these files are variable by nature, they
can become corrupted."
"And you're saying that Makoto's file has been corrupted?"
Kevin said in concern. He did like the idea of computers running
the universe.
"Exactly." Skuld replied gravely. "Her file as well as
yours and thirteen others. The strange thing is that the
corruption is in the same places in all fifteen files. The odds
against that are astronomical."
"What does this file corruption do?" Ami asked in concern.
"We don't really know yet." Skuld said uncomfortably. "I
just started the search before Urd attacked Mr. O'Connell." This
last was said with a glare at Urd who made faces at Skuld.
"We would appreciate it if you would let us know the results
as soon as possible." Scott requested, smiling. "We need to get
going so our other friends don't get worried. Let us know if
Makoto's condition changes, all right?"
"Speaking of Makoto, where is she?" Kevin asked, worried.
"It shouldn't take her this long to change clothes."
"I thought it would be best if she rested a while longer."
Belldandy said quietly. "She's been having nightmares since last
night."
"All right." Kevin replied, approvingly. "We need to get
going now, but we'll be back tomorrow to check on Makoto. Bye
for now." He waved as he followed Scott and Ami out to the gate.
A short conversation was heard outside, and then two cars were
heard driving away, immediately after that, Keichi came in,
pushing his motorcycle.
"Oh Keichi, what happened?" Belldandy asked in worry.
"Nothing I can't fix." He said reassuringly. "Who were
those people who just left?"
"Makoto's husband Kevin and two of their friends." Urd
said blandly. "Why?"
"It's just that they're rich." Keichi replied, shaking
his head in awe. "The couple drove off in a Porsche 959 and
the other guy was driving an Aston Martin DB7. Very nice wheels,
especially for someone who looks like he's seventeen."
"You know, Keichi's right." Urd said as she was struck by
something. "Kevin does look seventeen and what was all that about
Scott being around fifteen hundred years ago? How is that possible?"
"I don't know Urd, but he was." Belldandy replied. "Dinner
will be ready in an hour. Maybe Skuld can find out from his file?"
Urd nodded and went out to tell Keichi about dinner.
"Okay." He said nodding as he worked on the carburetor for
his bike. "I should be done by then." Urd nodded, then went to
talk to Skuld.
* * * * *
To Be Continued ...