Ah! The lost contract

by zeroIQ

For those worthy of Heaven's grace, a single wish could dramatically change their lives. And for a young college student by the name Morisato Keiichi who was plagued by bad luck for most of his life, that was almost the case. Until two demonesses changed that by removing him from Heaven's lists. So, will he ever get his to chance to happiness? Only time will tell.

2. Chapter 2

I do not own the Ah! Megami sama / Oh! My Goddess series

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"I'm really sorry, but we don't have anything that fits your requirements at the moment. Perhaps, you could give us your number and we could contact you in a couple of days if..."

Keiichi simply shook his head and turned away from the real estate agent, knowing all too well that this was just a polite way of telling him to get lost and not bother them if he was simply broke. "No, thank you, I'll have to look elsewhere."

Walking outside the office and into the busy streets of Nekomi, he lowered his head in defeat. Pulling a list from his jacket, he realized that this was the last one for today and crushing the paper into a tiny ball, he tossed it into the nearest bin with more force that was actually necessary. To say that he was frustrated would've been an understatement, as the whole day so far was one disaster after the other.

Thanks to his late shift at Yamada's restaurant, Keiichi woke up late, only to discover that his bike wouldn't start up and there was no time for a quick check. Which naturally meant that not only he'd have to take a bus to NIT, but also during his whole search for an apartment. And with five more agencies not providing him with something remotely within his price range, Keiichi began to wonder if he was actually asking for the impossible and just postponing the inevitable; call home and ask for help.

With only two days left until he had to move out, the pressure was starting to get to him. Most of his dorm mates had already packed their things, and some were already in their new places, leaving him the last person who hadn't even started. Then again, it might've been his fault to begin with, since everyone else had to settle with having a roommate or two, except for Keiichi who stubbornly tried to find a place he could afford all by himself. He wasn't by any means an antisocial person who couldn't tolerate others. It was just that he finally wanted to have some personal space and more importantly time, especially if he wanted to graduate any time soon.

As entertaining as the antics of the Motor Club's members were, he felt that he was spending a disproportionally large part of his day fooling around, instead of working on his assignments or even going for a nice excursion on his BMW. Actually, the fact that his bike was broken at the moment was most likely due to poor maintenance, as he prioritized his part time job on top of the Club's latest project. For all he knew, it could've been something as simple as a bad spark plug, still, he had to rush and get to NIT before he missed another one of prof. Kakuta's classes.

Reaching for a smoke, he remembered that he was totally out and decided to head to the nearest convenience store to get a few packs. 'Hm... maybe I can grab some cups of instant noodles while there, as well...'

That's when a strange sight caught his attention, a foreign looking blonde woman crossed the street and went into the store moments before him. Keiichi was fairly certain that he hadn't met her and yet there was that unshakable feeling of familiarity that he couldn't quite explain, but neither dismiss as nothing at all. 'Hold on a second... She had a couple of red markings on her face... Just like that dark skinned woman on that temple had... Urd...'

Intrigued, the college student went after her, maintaining enough distance to avoid being detected. After all, he had no intention to get into trouble for acting like a stalker or any other kind of creep. Approaching her carefully using the store's shelves as cover, Keiichi spotted her check through some bottles of sake.

Unaware of having someone spying on her, Mara frowned as she tried to decide which one was the best choice, knowing very little about mortal brands of liquor. 'That Urd... She drinks all the booze and then I've got to go and buy more... How's that even fair? Oh, wait... we're demonesses, so... Hm?'

Looking over her shoulder, she would've sworn that she heard a weird noise coming from behind that shelf, but, she dismissed it as nothing really important. Shrugging, she put several of them in her shopping basket and took the list Urd had given her earlier in the morning. 'Let's see... Got the sake, so, next is... rice crackers, taiyaki, several types of tea, a dozen packages of different flavors of ice-cream, and the latest TV Afternoon magazine?... What does she think I am? A pack mule?'

Meanwhile, Keiichi placed the cans he accidentally dropped on his foot back on the shelf. Cursing his clumsiness, the college student hoped that nobody noticed him try to peep through the gap between the food racks, and think that he was a weirdo. Content that no one paid any attention to him, Keiichi decided that he pushed his luck too far and it was about time to get some distance between himself and the mysterious blonde, before she spotted him. However, he missed a single can that remained on the floor and without looking he stepped on it, sending him on what would've been a certain face-plant on the floor.

Before he became acquainted with one of sir Isaac's famous laws, the blonde he was previously observing walked into view, trying to find the next item in her list and unwillingly saved him from a painful collision with the hard floor. Instead, his face slammed hard against the demoness' bust in a rather comical, but terribly embarrassing moment. It was something almost out of a manga, although he doubted that it would end up into something nice for him, like it usually happened in fiction.

Indeed, after a painfully long moment that he needed to regain his composure, Keiichi looked upwards from his current position, and straight into the red eyes of the demoness who was staring him back. Even worse, she had a cruel smirk on her face exposing some of the sharpest canines he had seen on a real person.

"Enjoying yourself, boy?"

Chocking hard, he dislodged himself from her and quickly bowed in apology. However, without taking a step back, he only found himself back to the same spot he was moments ago, leaving both of them at a loss of words.

"Hey... You're not doing this on purpose, are you?..." muttered the blonde in a deadpan voice, furrowing her brows as she kept staring at him.

"No! I swear I'm not!" objected Keiichi, pulling away from her as fast as he possibly could. And before she could reply, he turned and bolted, hoping that she wouldn't chase him for being a pervert. "I'm sorry!"

'What a dork... What was he doing here, anyway?' wondered Mara, scratching her chin. It was entirely possible that this was a mere coincidence, but, if that wasn't the case then it could easily become a problem. 'Hm... come to think of it, he does know that we're staying in that temple. Well, at least as far as Urd is concerned, since he never saw me yesterday. I guess I'll have to warn her, just in case.'

XXX

Far from Nekomi's downtown was an area that had seen much better days, with half of the buildings in the entire block uninhabited and in disrepair. It was one of the oldest parts of the city and with the gradual expansion towards NIT, as well as the harbor, most businesses had followed along. As such, the arcade that used to be a gathering spot of Nekomi's youth was abandoned, when its previous owners moved to a much better location. And with video games always evolving, they never felt it was actually worth the trouble to take the old ones along, given that they would've been replaced with newer ones anyway.

In one of the walls of such a place was an old pinball machine, its sides lined with reflective chrome panels designed to grab the customer's attention with their shiny mirror-like finish. Much of that luster was lost over the years it's been forgotten there, but, for a moment its entire surface suddenly light up in a heavenly glow that illuminated the entire room.

Even more, two forms started to emerge and stepped into the arcade, observing their surroundings as the portal behind them closed. Belldandy immediately picked the feeling of loneliness that emanated from the machines that were left there covered in a thick layer of dust, forgotten by the same people who once flocked around them.

"Wow... this place is totally ruined," said Skuld, as she stepped away from her sister who had graciously invited her on this trip to Midgard. While officially declared as a vacation, the younger goddess had no delusion that it was merely an excuse and her sister never denied that fact, as she explained the real reason behind their presence here.

"Don't be so harsh, Skuld. You of all goddesses should know that it's a shame that those lovely machines were left here in such a manner," said Belldandy in a firm, but gentle manner.

"Well... That doesn't change the fact that it looks as if a bomb went off in this place," said Skuld with a shrug. "Anyway... Why are we here exactly? I thought that we had to help some guy who got cursed or something."

"I believe that it might be possible that a curse was used to contaminate him with demonic energy, but, I'll have to take a closer look to determine that. However, I feel that going straight to him could be a dangerous move, especially knowing that Urd-neesan and Mara are located here in this city," explained Belldandy. "We first determine what she's doing here, and then figure out what we're going to do about Morisato-san."

"Oh, don't worry about that, oneesama!" beamed Skuld, pulling a pistol-like device from her blouse where the young goddess kept an impressive amount of tools, as well as an entire arsenal of explosives. "Tada! This is Mr. Curse Remover Mk. IV! It's only going to take a single pull of trigger and he's going to be back into normal! No curses, demonic energy or any other malicious program will remain in his body once the multipurpose security routine will cleanse all traces of it!."

Belldandy eyed her sister's contraption with some doubt, worrying that she was probably trying too hard to impress her once again. And while Skuld was a surprisingly good at creating all sorts of machines, she tended to get overenthusiastic at times, leading her to bite more than she could chew, with potentially disastrous results. "We'll... have to see about that, Skuld. In the meanwhile, why don't you wait here until I check on Neesan?"

"Eh?..." The younger goddess visibly deflated, as not only her Mr. Curse Remover Mk. IV was more or less rejected, but, she wasn't going to see Urd. Skuld was actually looking forward to meet with her eldest sister, despite the fact that she idolized Belldandy. After all, she only got a handful of opportunities these days to interact with her troublesome sibling and this would've been a nice excuse to do so. "But!... oneesama..."

"Don't look at me like that, Skuld," said Belldandy with a frown, placing her hands on her younger sister's shoulders. "I need to make sure that she's in a good mood, before I let you get there. I don't want to start anything, given how you tend to antagonize each other when you decide to... play. Besides... I kind of want to avoid having this lovely city to turn into a gigantic crater. Although... Now that I think of it, due to its proximity to the ocean, it's more likely to turn into a bay? Or a lagoon? Hm..."

Chuckling nervously, Skuld tried to look innocent avoiding to comment at her sister's jab. It was indeed true that occasionally Urd pushed the youngster to the point where explosives went flying in all directions. Still, for a first class demoness and a powerful one at that, Urd was utterly incapable of landing a direct hit at her. Which was mostly a deliberate act, since she could've easily gotten her if she was actually serious. As a matter of fact, Skuld had witnessed Urd's wrath once, when a foolish god tried to challenge the half demoness, and she simple swatted him like an insect. That was totally different from their 'fights' whenever they got into an argument. "Okay! Is it going to be fine, though? You'll be on your own, while there are two of them..."

"Please do not worry about me. At no point, Urd had ever attempted to use a real attack spell on me, or worse, a sealing one. For a member of the Eldjotnar, the fierce warriors of Muspelheim, that's something almost unheard of. So, I'm fairly confident that I can manage on my own," explained Belldandy in an effort to calm her sister down.

"Then why can't I come as well?" asked the confused goddess. "If she's not serious with you either, then..."

"Let's say that after the last time we got into a fight, I don't want to have any company in the event we repeat the same incident," said Belldandy with some concern in her voice.

"Wait! What did she do?" asked the alarmed goddess. "If she did something bad, the I'll..."

"There's no need to get too worked up about that. It was more a prank than anything malicious," said Belldandy as a hint of red appeared on her cheeks. "She merely dematerialized my combat uniform."

"Oh, I see. That's nothing too..." started Skuld before she suddenly paused, processing that last part. "She did what?! Grr!... When I get my hands on her!..."

"No! You'll stay here and wait for me! I'll return as soon as possible and if you've good, I'll get you some ice-cream," said Belldandy. "Then we can solve the whole matter with Morisato-san and once that's out of the way, I'll take you to see Urd. Technically speaking, we're still on vacations, so, there's no need to return back to Asgard right away."

Nodding vigorously, Skuld wholeheartedly approved her sister's plan. Especially the ice-cream part, one of her favorite delicacies and also her alternative power source, whenever the primary one was inaccessible. While immortals were fully autonomous in their own realms, Midgard was an exception, since it was technically a three dimensional world, instead of a ten dimensional one. Due to that difference they couldn't use their native powers directly, as such a thing would've caused extensive damage to the land of the mortals. So, they all relied on their mainframes to do the conversion exchanging their natural energies to something that was locally available. In the rare event where they were cut off, they could use alternative methods for replenishing their strength, and for Skuld that was by eating ice-cream, while Belldandy did the same by sleeping.

Seeing the delighted look on her sister's face, the wish granter smiled and headed towards the pinball machine, in order to teleport to the demonesses' lair.

'Here goes nothing.'

XXX

"Urd! I'm back!"

Getting no reply, Mara set the shopping bags on the floor, dismissing her shoes before she stepped inside the home, an incomprehensible human custom in these parts of Midgard. It wasn't unusual for the half demoness to forget herself whenever she worked on her alchemical projects and that left her to deal with the menial task of putting the purchased goods in their rightful place.

Thankfully, the house was in a much better state than yesterday, as the blonde worked hard to restore everything back to their original state. And for all her trouble, Urd hadn't even offered her the promised reward, as she was already fast asleep by the time Mara was done. Even then, the demoness had secretly hoped that at the very least, she earned a morning kiss, only to get a shopping list instead.

'She's so evil... And she's only a half demoness... I don't even want to imagine how she would've been if she was pure blood,' thought the blonde with a shiver, as she envisioned Urd wearing her mother's clothes and laughing haughtily. 'Brr... Scary... Go away terror... Go... Huh?'

Hearing a conversation coming from the nearby living room, she headed there to check what was going on, only to find the half demoness floating leisurely in front of a small red TV that wasn't there the previous day. "Hey! Where did that come from? I don't remember summoning it yesterday..."

"Oh! Ma-chan! You're back!" beamed the bronze skinned demoness.

"Don't give me that, Urd! I thought that you insisted to acquire all that stuff in the normal manner, instead of using our powers," said Mara, stomping her foot in annoyance. "And then you went along and conjured a TV!"

"Actually, I got it from a second-handed shop downtown," explained Urd. "There was no magic involved."

"Oh! You should've told me that in the first place," offered the demoness in an apologetic tone, before she went and retrieved the magazine that her companion had requested. However, she felt that there was something off with Urd's explanation, and the more she thought about, the more she became convinced that this was the case. "Here. That's the one you wanted, right?"

"Yes! Thanks, Ma-chan! Now I can check the schedule for any shows that I might like!" said Urd, as she quickly flipped through the pages.

"Have fun... I don't really like those soap operas. Too mushy for my tastes, and they take forever to go anywhere with their so called plot." Shrugging, the blonde went back to the kitchen, paying no attention to her companion who was marking several shows that she felt she needed to check.

Getting the shopping bags in the kitchen, she began to put everything in the right place, before realization hit her. The primary reason why she'd gone shopping was that, Urd was supposedly planning to work on some potion. However, moments ago she admitted that she's been to Nekomi, leaving the blonde with the nagging feeling that she's been tricked; once again.

"Urd!" Running back to the living room, Mara pointed an accusatory finger at the startled half demoness. "You just fooled me again, didn't you?"

Letting the magazine down on the low table, Urd reached towards the kitchen's direction causing a package of rice crackers to fly to her, narrowly missing the blonde's head. Opening the plastic bag, she took one of the crunchy snacks and then extended her arm, offering some to the irked demoness. "Have some, they're really good..."

"Don't mind if I do," said the blonde with a look that would've otherwise been described as goofy, taking a couple of them and spending a few moments chewing along with Urd, who was already halfway through the package. "Hey... Slow down, you glutton. At this rate there won't be any left for me to... Wait a moment!... That's not why I was here!..."

"Hm?" Taking another bite, Urd titled her head in confusion. "What was it then?"

"You totally went to Nekomi! I thought that you wanted to work on your potions or something. Wasn't that the reason why I had to go there alone in the first place?" asked Mara, narrowing her eyes at the half demoness.

"That's exactly what I did, to be honest with you. I simply needed sugar for my project and quickly went to grab some," explained Urd. "That's when I saw the TV and I thought that I wanted one, as well."

Scratching her head, the blonde demoness had finally calmed down completely, taking some rice crackers, before they were all decimated by Urd. "Okay... that makes sense. So... what's the new project all about?"

"Nothing too major, really... I mixed something to earn us some quick revenue from spreading a little bit of misery. And while painful, it's mostly harmless." Summoning a glass jar filled with small pills that somehow resembled walnuts, she presented them to Mara who seemed intrigued. "This is my brand new alchemical product; the Nutcracker."

"Huh? How is breaking nuts any useful for us?" asked the blonde, feeling a bit lost.

"No silly, not that kind of nuts... Look... Whoever takes a single one of those puppies, will get a nasty surprise whenever they make any naughty thoughts. More specifically, they'll receive the exact same sensation as a nice, hard kick on their groin," explained Urd with a wink. "And given that we're in a college city, the number of potential victims can be rather impressive. So, if we ever need to make some quick and dirty income from spreading misery, that's our ticket."

"I like it! It's so evil!..." Grinning from ear to ear, Mara pondered on the possible application of such a tool. "Does it have any other side effects?"

"Nope. Nothing physically harmful anyway. It just gives them something to remember for a long while," said Urd playfully tossing the jar up and down.

"Cool! Can I have one of them?" asked the blonde demoness with a grin.

Raising an eyebrow, Urd wasn't entirely certain what her companion would've done with it at this point. They've barely gotten here and there were more important things to do than pulling pranks on unsuspecting humans. Unless of course, she was planning to use it on someone else, which was a possibility that the half demoness had already predicted. "It's designed to work on mortals only. Just in case, you got any funny ideas, Mara."

"Oh, come on! I've turned you into a redhead once and you keep bringing it up..." complained the blonde, frowning at her companion. "Besides, why would I ever pull that on you? I mean, I may be evil, but I'm not dumb!"

"Aw... you do care!" said Urd with a surprisingly sweet tone that made her companion turn slightly blue. Mara had always been somewhat allergic to sappy comments and romantic setups, which was a general demonic trait, although, the exact effect of it greatly varied between individuals. Some, like her were actually reacting in a noticeable manner, while others could ignore it completely, to the point where they could be described as immune. Still, she knew that as funny as it seemed, pushing the blonde's buttons beyond a certain point would make it seem less of a joke and more like abuse. "But seriously... What would you do with it?"

"Well... I ran into that Morisato guy, or rather... he ran into me; literally," said Mara with a disgusted expression. "I was just minding my business, getting everything you had in the list, and he just shows up and slams his stupid face right into my bust. And for a good measure, he did it again while he supposedly apologized... I mean... seriously?...The nerve of that guy!"

Urd actually tried her best to contain her mirth, but it proved to be an impossible task. The mere thought of that shy and reserved boy face-planting not once, but twice into Mara's cleavage was far too hilarious and she burst into laughter, much to the other demoness' chagrin. "So, that's why you want one? Sorry, but I think that we'll have to keep away from him for a while. Messing too much with him and we're going to attract some unnecessary attention."

"Fine! Have it your way, then!" snorted Mara. "I'll go and have a nice bath. All the contact with that perv makes me feel itchy."

"Sure thing, Ma-chan! I've used the bath already, so, feel free to take your time!" Watching the blonde leave the living room, Urd's expression slightly darkened. It was fairly obvious that, Keiichi knew where she lived, but, she doubted that he'd try to visit her again anytime soon. And his encounter with Mara was most likely an accident, even if her companion refused to admit it. She was certain that the blonde was primarily angry of being part of something that seemed out of a comedy, instead of having him collide with her. After all, if he was really a pervert, he would've accepted her offer yesterday and Mara was well aware of that, too. Still, if he kept running into them by accident there was the dangerous possibility to become interested in one of them, especially her. Without knowing that she was merely testing him, Keiichi could've gotten the wrong idea, an outcome that greatly endangered her plans.

It was when a startled shriek that came from the bath that made Urd breath a sigh of relief. She was finally here and hopefully things would progress in the desirable manner from this point on. 'But, first things first! I have to go and greet Bell-chan!'

Floating into the corridor, she found her sister hurrying out of the bath, slamming the door behind her, as she tried to recover from what seemed to be a rather embarrassing moment.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mara! I didn't meant to walk on you like that!" apologized the brunette goddess, hoping that her bad timing wasn't going to undermine her efforts here by enraging them.

"You better be! You're a goddess for hell's sake! Use the freaking door for once, will you?" shouted the blonde demoness from the other side of the door.

"I..."

"Bell-chan!" Without any delays, Urd tackled her younger sibling, getting her arms tightly around her. "It's been such a long time!"

"Neesan?" Trying to maintain her balance, the brunette goddess looked at her sister's smiling face. There was absolutely nothing out of place that would've indicated any malicious intent, and for a moment, Belldandy chided herself for thinking about that. Instead, she returned the gesture, as it had been quite some a while since the last time they've met in person.

"Don't just stand there! Come this way! I've got a few things for you to try!" Pulling her along, it almost seemed like a scene from the past, when Urd used to do the exact same thing, trying to show her little sisters the various interesting things they could find in her mother's vast mansion.

"Please calm down a bit!... I..." started the goddess, as she tried to keep up with her enthusiastic sibling.

Coming to an abrupt stop in the kitchen, Urd presented a small stack of paper boxes that contained a great variety of tea types and flavors. "Which one you like the most? Don't be shy, we've got several of them! And there are plenty of snacks, as well."

Knowing from experience that arguing with her would've been utterly futile, Belldandy checked the various types of tea, before she pointed at a particular one. "Hm... This seems rather lovely. Although, I..."

"So... What brings you here, Bell? Finished with a wish and stopped to say hello?" As a matter of fact, Urd had a very good idea of what was going on, but decided that acting innocent was the preferred course of action in a situation like this. Any direct confrontation at such an early stage would've only ruined everything.

"I'm here on vacations," started the brunette goddess, feeling very uncomfortable that she had to use her official excuse, instead of the actual purpose of her presence in the mortal realm. After all, lying was forbidden for a first class goddess such as herself, and although it was technically the truth, Belldandy couldn't help but wonder if acting in such an evasive manner was something appropriate.

"What a coincidence! Me and Ma-chan are here on vacations, too! It's been a while we had some time for ourselves, you know. All that work in Muspelheim is killing me, especially since my latest promotion to the rank of Lieutenant first class. Those damn sand dragons... always out for a snack and we've got to keep them under control. What a pain... And don't let me start on..." Urd simply went on, talking for the whole couple of minutes it took the tea to be ready. In fact talking had been one of her weaknesses, as she often started and then forgot stop. Especially whenever she tried to to catch up with her sisters, no mater how insignificant those details of her daily life were.

Looking up from her steaming tea, Belldandy tried to absorb all that torrent of information. "So... being promoted to your rank allows you to have access to a personal bath?"

"No. We've got baths in our homes, alright. It's just that they're those horrid sonic showers that pretty much everyone has to use. Water is rationed in Muspelheim, since the place is totally dry with very few oases being the only locally available source of it. While we don't need to drink it, it's still useful on everyday life and to reduce our dependence on it, we don't carelessly waste it. Sure, we recycle as much as we can, but, a real jacuzzi is only a dream until you get past a certain rank in the military," explained Urd with glee. "Now I can finally take a real bath. Did you know that some visiting demons often mistake sonic showers for torturing devices? That happens for a good reason..."

Giggling, the brunette goddess took a sip from her tea, before she set the cup on the low table in front of her. "That's nice to hear, neesan. Are you going to stay here for a while?"

"Yes, we are! As a matter of fact why don't you bring Skuld with you? I bet that she's probably bored to tears waiting in some dark corner, until you determined if I'm in a good mood. Come on, don't give me that look, I know you better than you might think," said Urd with a smirk. "Although, you seem to not know me at all. When was the last time, I was so pissed that I lost my temper?"

"Um... Back when Skuld accidentally broke a vial of your potions, I believe," said Belldandy with a frown. "You ate the ice cream that your mother had given her as a treat..."

"Oh, come on, Belldandy! She should've kept away from those racks, like a good goddess. Who knows what would've happened if she got splashed with something particularly nasty... There were some serious stuff there, and it could've turned really ugly. Besides, mom gave her another ice-cream, while she thought I wasn't looking," objected Urd. "Not to mention that I've sent her a box of explosive charges as an apology for making her cry."

"You sent her what?!" asked the shocked goddess. "H-How did that even pass through the security checks?!"

"It's really easy, actually. I only included the basic materials and detailed instructions on how to make the explosives. That way, the package won't be confiscated by Asgard's security," explained Urd with a wink.

"But... that's dangerous! She could've gotten herself hurt!" objected Belldandy.

"Maybe. Although, she had already been trying to make her own version of bombs and that was even more dangerous. At least, the ones I gave her were more stable and safe to handle," said Urd. "Of course, she's using a modified variety nowadays that's way more powerful than the original batches, but, she's a lot more experienced now. Not to mention all the other things that she came up on her own."

Nodding slowly, the brunette goddess had to agree with her sister. Skuld had made tremendous progress as far as her inventions were concerned. Which had turned to be both a blessing and a curse, as it hindered her efforts to use magic in the same manner like everyone else did. "I cannot disagree with your points, although, I wish that she would've spent some more time to learn how to use magic. She's old enough to have an angel and yet she never even tried to get an egg for herself."

Urd took a sip from her tea, thinking about her youngest sister's situation. "I wouldn't be so sure about it, Bell-chan. After all, she does infuses her inventions with her powers, despite the fact that she's oblivious about it. In the end she's most likely going to be a lot more powerful compared to most people's expectations. And if she were to know about her uniqueness, she could become really a pain to deal with. Not having an angel right now isn't as much of a problem, compared to the long term benefits she's going to have once she realizes how to use her abilities in the most efficient manner. Direct magic manipulation on such a level is a fairly rare and extremely valuable skill."

"I think that, as well. Allowing her to become conceited is by far the worst outcome for Skuld. Still, I don't believe that leaving her on her own will yield any desirable results. As it is, she has little confidence in her magical powers and this clearly affects her social interactions with other celestials who are around her age. While an overinflated ego is a problem, going for the complete opposite is not much better either," said Belldandy.

"Then why don't you use your time here in a more constructive manner? Vacation or not, it's a perfect opportunity to spend some time together and teach her a thing or two," suggested Urd. "I can help as well, if you want. I may be a demoness, but, I'm a goddess as well. So, I can show her a few spells she might like."

Belldandy's face light up as she heard her sister's offer. It would've been very beneficial for Skuld to interact with both of them, and not only for the sake of learning about magic. "That would be great, neesan! I'll definitely bring her here whenever I can, and I believe that she's going to like that, too!"

"It's a deal, then!" said Urd with a grin, before she paused. "Come to think of it... Have you found a place to stay? Me and Ma-chan got this temple that seemed abandoned, and we had to restore it back to its original state."

Before the goddess had a chance to reply, the living room's door opened revealing the residence's second demoness. "We? What's all that 'we' stuff? I did all the hard work!"

"Oh! There you are, Ma-chan!" beamed Urd. "You sure took your sweet time..."

"Hey... give me a break. I had a busy day, so, I used the opportunity to relax a bit," said Mara as she took a seat next to them. "After running to that boy and then having a goddess walk in me while I was about to enter the bathtub... I think that I deserved a nice, long soak in the tub."

Offering the newcomer a cup of tea, Belldandy finally saw the opportunity to inquire about the aforementioned boy. "I'm terribly sorry for what happened earlier... Although, what do you mean about running into someone?"

"Oh! It was the guy that came here yesterday," started the blonde, before she actually realized who exactly she was talking to. "Uh... I mean..."

Pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance, Urd was now facing the very topic that she had desperately tried to avoid. While she had no delusions that Keiichi's removal from the wish queue was the primary reason behind her sisters' presence in Midgard, she felt that Belldandy would've been reluctant to ask her directly. At least, not before she knew more about the whole situation. Letting out a sigh, Urd decided to minimize the damage as much as it was feasible at this point. "She means the delivery boy who brought us our dinner. I've felt that since we got here, we should at the very least sample some of the local cuisine, so, I've ordered some sushi."

"And the person who brought it here happened to be someone by the name Morisato Keiichi?" asked Belldandy.

"Yes! That's what he was called!" said Urd in faked surprise. "How do you know?"

"He was apparently in our potential customer list and was eventually rejected due to traces of demonic energy that were detected into his body," explained the brunette goddess, hoping to get a reaction from one of them.

"Ma-chan put a cursed card in his wallet as a prank. Nothing that actually harmed him, just a little joke to scare him a bit. That must've contaminated him," said Urd carefully altering some of the truth to avoid telling her sister a straight lie. While it was perfectly fine for first class demonesses to deceive others, her relationship with the celestial side of her family could be actually endangered if she actively attempted to fool them. As such, Urd had always been careful and only twisted the truth when it came to her sisters, just enough to deny any accusations of lying.

Trying to redeem herself for her blunder, Mara decided to also add something that would've cemented their alibi. "Besides, how we were supposed to know that he was one of your potential client list? It's common knowledge that hacking into your system is strictly prohibited, just like you're not supposed to attempt the same with ours. Why would we ever jeopardize our careers and face severe punishment for the sake of a single mortal's wish? I mean... that's beyond stupid."

Urd had to give her companion some credit for that. After all, the Doublet System was only the spearhead of the peace effort, and there were other laws to prevent an escalation of hostilities. And since both mainframes were central for their everyday operations, it was agreed than none should be allowed to attempt and mess with their competitor's system. And that was exactly the case with them as well, as it would've been extremely foolish to risk getting stuck as a low level life form, just for something so insignificant.

Of course, what neither of them mentioned was that there weren't any problems if a celestial gave them the list. As long as they hadn't hacked into the Yggdrasil mainframe, no rules were broken. Still, without that small but far from insignificant detail, it would've been unlikely for Belldandy to keep suspecting them. After all, they were both notorious for pulling all kinds of crazy pranks whenever they felt like having some fun, especially now that they were on vacations.

"I see... I suppose that it must've been a coincidence, then. If I remember correctly from his profile, Morisato-san is a truly unfortunate soul, so, maybe it was his bad luck that caused all this misunderstanding..." Drinking the rest of her tea in silence, Belldandy felt that there was still something more to this, however, without any evidence or even the slightest of indications she would've never pressed on. "I thank you for your time, neesan. I've had a lot of fun here, but, I need to go back to Skuld before she begins to worry."

"Aw... You're leaving already?" said Urd with a frown. "Although, keeping the kiddo waiting isn't a good option. She kind of gets all sorts of crazy ideas whenever she gets too much free time on her hands."

Giggling, the brunette goddess got up and started to head towards the door. "That she does!"

"Do me a favor and bring her along next time, okay? Tell her I've got ice-cream waiting in the freezer for her." Following her younger sibling to the residence's front door, Urd waived at her, as she politely reminded her companion to do the same, even if took a pinch in her hindquarters before she got the message.

"Yeah! Come again!... or something..." added Mara, as she covertly rubbed the pain away.

"I will! Oh, I nearly forgot!" said Belldandy, stopping as she was about to leave. "Grandmother wanted to tell toy that she says hello!"

Urd's expression actually softened when she heard that, and smiled back at her sister. "Tell her I'm doing fine, okay? I'll send her a letter when I've got some time."

"No worries, neesan. I'll do that!" Walking down the stone path that led to the temple's entrance, the brunette goddess missed the triumphant look that the two demonesses shared for a moment, bumping their fists together.

"Not only we haven't gotten into a fight, but, next time she's bringing Skuld with her, too," said Urd with a content smile. "Now, that's what I'd call a success!"

"That all nice and everything..." started the blonde demoness. "Although... Shouldn't we stop them? She's not gonna have any problems to remove the curse, you know."

"Don' worry, Ma-chan..." Grinning the half demoness' eyes briefly turned bright red, before she turned around and headed back to the living room. "We're not alone in this."

XXX

Meanwhile, in a far corner of Nekomi, Skuld was bored out of her mind. It's already been more than half an hour and there were still no news from her oneesama. Normally she would've been worried, but, knowing that she was with Urd, the younger goddess imagined that they were merely catching up; while she was stuck in this dilapidated arcade.

'This sucks! Why do I always have to stay behind?'

Pacing around the room, she had absolutely nothing to do other than wait. Still, she really wished that there was something that she could've done to prove that she wasn't a child anymore. As kind and gentle her oneesama was, Skuld had no delusions that she treated her like a helpless kid who couldn't hold her ground in a fight. Of course, she hadn't wished for something bad to go between her sisters so that she got the chance to prove her wrong.

'Hey... I still have Mr. Curse Remover Mk. IV! Oneesama didn't seem too excited about using it, but... if I were to solve all this mess, then she's probably gonna be impressed by my machine! I'm such a genius!'

Reaching for her blouse, she recovered a tiny palmtop computer, and began her search for their primary goal; Morisato Keiichi. Seconds later, she managed to spot him several city blocks away from her, and while not exactly close, it wasn't that far either. She could definitely manage to drop by his location, zap him and then return back, before Belldandy did.

'Okay! I can do this, so... Hm... Where was it?' Searching though her storage stash that was somehow integrated to her clothes, the young goddess' eyes lit up as she found what seemed to be a small metallic cube.

And without wasting any more time, she ran outside of the abandoned building where she pressed the single button that was located on that tiny item in her hands. Setting it on the ground, it began to unfold and form what appeared to be a scooter, despite the fact that its original size was several times smaller than its transformed one.

Jumping on the seat, she secured her palmtop computer on the handlebar where she could easily see the path she had to take to reach her target. Satisfied that everything was fine, Skuld started the scooter's electric engine and quietly headed towards her destination.

XXX

Having no other plans for the day, Keiichi decided to return back to the dorm earlier. After all, he still had to check his BMW and see what was wrong with it. 'At the very least, that way I can say that this wasn't a totally unproductive day.'

He still had no solution for his housing situation, but, without a decent means of transportation, Keiichi doubted that he could come up with something soon. Going from one real estate to another took a lot more time if he had to rely on buses; time that he just didn't have anymore.

'If I won't find anything tomorrow, then I'll have to call home and see if they're gonna help me. Providing that I'll convince them to increase my allowance, I'll have one final day to pick the first house I'll be able to afford, before I'll be forced to take my stuff from the dorm. Man... That's rough. And if they disagree... Then I'm royally screwed... No doubt about it.'

Entering the dorm, Keiichi was greeted with an uncharacteristic silence, although, several of the tenants were already in their new apartments, or at the very least they've moved most of their stuff and only hang around for old times' sake. In a way it was a bit sad that he had to leave this place. Sure, it had been always a bit too noisy here and the rooms were a bit cramped, but, in a way he'd miss this dorm.

"Yo, Morisato!"

Looking behind him, before he got the chance to get into his room, Keiichi spotted the two resident troublemakers of this place. His sempais and heads of NIT's Motor Club, Toraichi Tamiya and Hikozaemon Otaki. "What's up? Did you guys just got back?"

"Nah... We were in the back, fixing your ride," said Tamiya, giving him a thumbs up.

"Yeah, dude. We've noticed that you had some problems with it earlier in the morning and decided to do something about it," added Otaki. "And it was just a bad spark plug, so, no worries. Fixed it in a second."

"I totally knew it!" said Keiichi, breathing a sigh of relief. After all, the last thing he needed right now was some costly repair for his BMW. "Wish I had the time to check it out myself, but... You know how, Kakuta feels about deadlines... And those who happen to be late..."

"You didn't have to remind me!" said Otaki with a chuckle. Leaning closer, he quickly checked at Tamiya's direction, to make sure that he wasn't paying attention to them. "Hey... Morisato? Found any apartment, yet? We need to leave in two days, you know."

"Nope, nothing at all... I need to keep looking," said Keiichi, as his shoulders slumped. "But, thanks for the help with the bike. That will make things a bit easier."

"Don't mention it, dude!" said Otaki dismissively. "Den-chan was getting worried, so, I thought I should ask..."

"Who's getting worried?" yelled an embarrassed Tamiya, grabbing Otaki in a headlock. "Why you, blabbermouth!... If you've got time to spread such nonsense, then help me pack my things!"

Laughing despite his situation, Otaki waived at Keiichi. "See ya later, Morisato!"

"Later, guys." Keiichi couldn't help but smile at those two. Despite their intimidating looks and hare brained schemes, they were actually good people. A bit eccentric and utterly incapable of keeping the Motor Club properly funded, but... nobody was perfect, after all.

Considering that he had nothing better to do for the remainder of his day, he felt that going out for a ride on his BMW was a much better option, now that is was working. Besides, he needed to make sure that there wasn't anything else wrong with it and the best way to do that was by testing it. 'Plus, I've got to buy some cigarettes. I haven't gotten any after that... incident.'

Walking towards his parked bike, the college student had no idea how he managed to involve himself in something that looked like a scene from a comedy show. 'Oh well... I can't do anything now. Although... what's up with running into women with strange tattoos on their face? Is it a new thing these days?'

Starting his bike and heading for another convenient store, he narrowly missed the scooter that stopped in front of the old dorm, moments after he was gone.

'Huh? He's moving a lot faster all of a sudden.' Checking her palmtop once again, she was certain that he must've just left. 'Great... Now I've got to chase him all over this city! Well... Bring it on, buddy!'

Fifteen minutes later, Keiichi was walking out of the closest convenience store, and thankfully nothing particularly embarrassing took place this time around. In fact, for the first time in the last couple of days he felt relaxed. As a matter of fact, he always got into a better mood whenever he rode a motorcycle and for a moment he thought that he should go and try the Nekomi circuit once again. Tomorrow was a long day, too, and he felt that a small race would've given him the extra energy he needed.

"Are you Morisato Keiichi?"

The sudden question startled the student, who turned behind him, only to find a young looking girl who seemed to be eleven or twelve years old at most. However, the most peculiar thing was that she appeared to be a foreigner, dressed in a red and pink outfit, but more importantly, she also had some strange markings on her face. Unlike the other ones he had seen, hers were blue and shaped like the outlines of water droplets. 'Okay... This is getting really weird...'

"That's me," said Keiichi after a few seconds of awkward silence. "Who are you, though?"

"I'm goddess second class, first category, limited license, Skuld," said the dark haired girl, pointing a finger at him. "And I'm here to relieve you of your curse."

"Huh?" For a moment, Keiichi was almost certain that she was either pulling a prank on him or... she was just crazy. Still, the memory of that eerie card made him pause and consider the extremely unlikely possibility that she was for real. Of course, believing that this kid was a goddess seemed to be too much for him and he remained rather skeptical. "A curse?"

"Yes. According to the Yggdrasil mainframe, you're under some curse that contaminated your body with demonic energy. So, I need to perform a cleanup routine in order..." started Skuld, only to realize that the mortal had already turned around and began to leave. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I've got better things to do," said Keiichi, fully expecting that this was some zany plot from a money grabbing group who scammed people for money. 'Cleaning routine... Yeah, right... I bet she's gonna charge me an arm and a leg... Nope... Don't need that.'

On the other hand, Skuld couldn't believe the nerve of that guy. She came all the way from Asgard to help him, and he acted like an indifferent and ungrateful brat. Still, as a goddess she had a duty to perform and no matter how difficult he was, she was going to purify him whether he wanted or not. Pulling Mr. Curse Remover Mk. IV from her blouse, she aimed the pistol-like gadget at him. "Hold it! You're not going anywhere before I'm done with you!"

"Now, look... I..." started Keiichi, before he turned and noticed the weird looking device this so called goddess had pointed at him. Even if he hadn't seen anything like that before, judging by its general shape he doubted that it meant anything good for him. Apparently this young lady had just turned a gun at him and Keiichi feared that his time on this cruel world was a bout to come to an abrupt end. "W-Wait a-a s-second! D-Don't do anything too h-hasty!"

"That's my line, buster! Just hold still for a second, so I can shoot you with... Hey!... Hold still, I said!" Once more, the dark haired boy turned away from her, but this time, he was running for dear life and despite his scrawny looks he proved to be rather fast. "I haven't purified you, yet!"

"Thanks, but I want to live an impure life!" screamed the panicked student, hurrying to his trusty bike that was parked on a nearby street. Jumping on the seat, he desperately tried to start the engine as fast as he could and accelerated away from the crazy girl. Glad that he was finally safe, he managed to retrieve his helmet from the sidecar and put it on, wondering what he had done to deserve such a fate. 'What happened back there? I've had all sorts of crazy things in my life, but... A gun? Man, that's rough!... Huh?'

Looking at the rear mirror, he immediately saw that girl riding a scooter after him, and despite its small frame, it was actually catching up to him. Without thinking, he revved the engine of his BMW going above the speed limit, although, it was something he had to do in order to save his life. Even more, for the very first time he didn't stop as he approached a red traffic light, startling a young woman who was trying to cross the road. "I'm really sorry! It's an emergency!"

'Was that, Morisato-san?' Belldandy took a few steps back, watching the fast moving bike and its surprisingly familiar driver head towards the city's edge, the same direction she came from. While she had actually flown all the way here, the goddess decided to walk the rest of the way to the abandoned arcade. Belldandy even made a stop to buy some ice-cream from her sister and hoped that this treat would've been sufficient to appease Skuld, considering that she was left all alone for quite a while. Or... that's what she wanted to think, as the young goddess suddenly came into view, chasing after the college student on her scooter. 'Wait!... Skuld?! What in Asgard's name is she doing?'

Unfortunately, Keiichi's pursuer was too focused on her task and failed to notice her sister. Instead she accelerated as much as her machine could handle, but, it just wasn't enough. This particular scooter was never meant for races and as such, it was getting hard to keep up with the fleeing college student. 'Why you... I'm getting in all this trouble to help you and you're acting like this? If you want a fight, then I'll give you one! Scramjet attachment, activate!'

Ports on either side of the scooter's sides opened, letting two support beams expand as the new modules began to unfold in the same manner that the rest of the vehicle did minutes ago. Once fully deployed, a pair of miniature jet engines started to rev up coming into live with a mighty, ear shattering roar. Especially when the afterburners kicked in, further increasing the tiny vehicle's speed

In fact, they were so loud that even Keiichi could hear them, despite the fact that he was way ahead of the little goddess. 'Huh? What's that sound?...'

Checking at the rear mirror, the college student was gobsmacked when he saw the rapidly approaching jet-powered scooter. This whole mess was starting to become downright surreal, almost like a scene from a movie, and for a moment he actually pinched himself to make sure that he wasn't having a bad dream. At any rate, that girl was hot on his tracks, but, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. 'She's way too fast... So, if I take a sharp turn, she's gonna have a hard time to catch up. Not with those tiny wheels, anyway...'

Indeed, Skuld had a very difficult time steering her jet-powered scooter and was forced to slow down on every corner. This quickly put her in a situation where she couldn't actually catch up to him, as he managed to slowly increase his distance from her, every time he took a turn. However, it was nearly impossible to completely shake her off his tail, since she regained much of her lost ground whenever they were on a straight. As the impromptu race went on, the college student realized that the best way to lose her was the mountain road. With so many twisting turns, it was going to be the best place for him to maximize his advantage and hopefully get rid of the gun slinging girl.

Realizing his strategy, Skuld was growing increasingly frustrated as the two of them raced through the swirling Nekomi Circuit. Every attempt to go faster had the opposite effect as she struggled to stay on the road, and the strain on her scooter was getting to the point where she stared to worry that it might actually break once its frame reached the limits of its structural strength. She even thought of using a bomb to force him to slow down, but, offensive measures could prove to be extremely dangerous with mortals being very fragile. Her mission was to help him, not kill him and without much in terms of magic, she couldn't really heal him if anything went horribly wrong. 'Wait a moment... Why am I even chasing him on this? I've got something much better!'

Grinning, the young goddess pressed the folding button and in a moment the scooter stopped and reverted back into a cube. Retrieving the object, Skuld changed into a skintight pink and white combat uniform and stashed her contraption, while retrieving another one; her personal, dual scramjet-powered flier. Strapping it securely on her back, the goddess wasn't in any particular hurry to go after her mortal target, and thought that it would've been funny to give him a short moment of victory before she proved him wrong.

'You had your chance. Now, It's my turn to show you what I can do.' Hovering above ground, she slowly started to move forward, before the two engines kicked in, sending her flying at a dazzling speed. Following the mountain's contour, Skuld immediately spotted Keiichi and without having to use her hands for steering anymore, she trained her Mr. Curse Remover Mk. IV at the unsuspected college student.

Meanwhile, Keiichi was finally feeling a lot safer, once he could no longer see the crazy girl behind him. Letting a sigh of relief, he turned his attention back on the road ahead of him and continued to speed through the path, just in case she was still after him. 'This is ridiculous!... I mean... come on! The last few days were crazy, but... this is on totally different level!'

Once he calmed down a bit, another disturbing thought popped up. Unlike Urd or that other blonde woman, she knew him. Even worse, that girl had managed to find him and perhaps his victory was all in vain, as she could be just waiting for him outside of the dorm. And the worst part was that with all that crazy stuff that happened in the last couple of minutes, asking for help was going to be impossible. Nobody would buy such a story, leaving him totally defenseless against someone who wanted o shoot him. 'Seriously... What have I done to deserve this? I never angered anyone. Well... not to the point where they'd hire a someone to kill me. And what's up with a young girl using a gun in the first place. I swear... kids these days... Huh? What's that sound?'

Checking the rear mirror, he couldn't see her following him, yet despite that, the loud roar of jet engines was getting closer and closer to him. Looking up, he saw Skuld flying just above him, her gun pointing downwards. "What?!"

"You seriously thought you'd get away from me? Well, guess what! You never got a chance in the first place!" gloated the little goddess, pulling the trigger before he could even scream. In a split second, a bright beam of light shot from her contraption and engulfed the terrified student, who obviously thought that this was the end of him.

Instead of swift death, his whole body was glowing, leaving him in a shocked, but also, relieved state. "H-Huh? I'm... alive?"

"Of course you're alive, dummy! This is a curse removal program, not a weapon!" said Skuld. "I told you that I wanted to purify you, didn't I?"

"I thought you wanted to shoot me! Well... you kind of did, but... How was I supposed to know that it wasn't going to be dangerous?" asked the baffled Keiichi, as the glow started to disappear. "Uh... it is harmless, right?"

"Hey! You're implying that my machine isn't working properly or anything?" shot Skuld back, narrowing her eyes at the skeptical student. "You'll be just fine! The routine should've already removed all presence of demonic energy in you and... Whoa! Look out!"

Following her gaze ahead of them, Keiichi realized that there was a good reason why all drivers should never leave sight of the road, no matter what happened. His momentary distraction had proven to be enough for him to forget that he was still speeding on a path full of tight turns; and right now he was on a collision course with a road barrier. Worse, the sharp cliff side left him no doubt that this was going to be a fatal accident, and no matter how hard he tried to stop his BMW, it was too late.

Breaking the barrier, the bike along with its rider went over the edge and for a moment, Skuld began to panic. This wasn't going to end well for him, and she went after him to grab him before he hit the ground. That's when she noticed the light coming from the sidecar's mirror. 'Wait!... that's!...'

And while Skuld began to smile, Keiichi closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Unless that so called goddess saved him, or a miracle happened, he was done for. He had walked out of a few crashes before, but, this one wasn't going to be the same.

'This is it, huh?... I never thought that it would end like...' His thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar and melodic voice, coming from his bike's sidecar.

"Holy Bell!"

Opening his eyes, his vision was filled with white feathers and then all of a sudden, he began to rapidly decelerate, along with his BMW. It might had been forceful enough that he nearly hit his head on the handlebar, but at the same time, it was nowhere as bad s the crash he expected. Even more, he was still moving, although at a much lower speed and slowly coming to a gentle stop. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, all the adrenaline from the past couple of minutes, coupled with his near death experience had finally taken a toll on the student and the world around him went dark as he lost consciousness.

---

AN: I would like to thank everyone that has offered their feedback and support both here and on the Goddess Relief site.

There are a few things that I'd like to note for this chapter.

The Eldjotnar is the plural form of the word Eldjotunn, which stands for "Fire Giant" in Norse Legends (Jotunn is the word for Giant). Given the fact that there seems to be no Giants in the AMG world, so I reused the term for the demon's fighting forces. I felt that there was a need for something to act as a counterpart for the Valkyries and the rest of Heaven's Fighting Wings. I'll get into more details about Muspelheim and the rest of the realms under demonic control at a later point in the story, but for the time being all I can say is that, Urd is a member of the Eldjotnar. More about her background will be revealed in the next chapters, although, I want to clarify that she grew up with her mother in Niflheim (which is the central world of the demons and the seat of their government), and went to Muspelheim at a later point when she was a bit older.