Disclaimer: AMG is not mine. "First End" was written by Yumi Touma. "The Man Comes Around" belongs to Johnny Cash.
Second Dawn
Chapter 3
Those Whom Demon Has Joined Together Let Not Goddess Put Asunder
Megumi Morisato of Hokkaido watched the foreign girl out of the corner of her eye as she stirred the simple soup she was making. The girl seemed happy, almost abnormally happy given her situation. When her brother brought Belldandy to her home, they found no ID, no wallet, no money. She was, as far as Megumi could tell, a refugee in every way that counted, yet she moved about the kitchen, setting the table, with a gentle, unforced smile, as if she knew everything was happening as it should.
There was something about her, something... different.
There's a reason Keiichi brought her here, she thought. Not a reason that he knew... just... she's here for a REASON.
"So, where are you from?" Megumi asked casually.
Belldandy opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly paused. With a demon on the loose and her in a weakened state, it might not be the best idea to divulge too much information about what she was. It broke her heart to think she might have to deceive someone, but if word got back to that demon...
"Far away," she answered truthfully and deceptively at he same time.
"Europe?" Megumi pressed.
"A little further," Belldandy replied with a cringe. She wasn't good at deceit and hated the very idea of it, but it wasn't just her safety at stake.
Megumi nodded knowingly. An American... no... too polite. Definitely Canadian...
She wanted to press for more information, but it was obvious that the girl didn't want to talk about herself, either out of embarrassment of her situation or distrust of Megumi. Either way, the Japanese girl wasn't one to press.
Picking up two bowls of soup, Megumi turned and gently placed the steaming bowls on the table before them.
Belldandy sipped delicately from her spoon and smiled. "It's wonderful! What is it?"
"It's miso soup," Megumi answered with a shrug. "It's pretty much the limit of my cooking skills. So I hope you like take out."
The goddess smiled. "If you like, I know some recipes. I could cook."
"You do?"
"Hai!"
The girl felt like she had won the lottery. It always irked her that the local merchants traded her groceries in exchange for her mechanical expertise when she didn't know how to cook, and she was growing very weary of take out and ramen.
"Knock yourself out!" Megumi replied. She checked her watch and quickly wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Jeez! I gotta go! I got softball practice!"
She suddenly looked up at Belldandy and realized that she was about to leave a strange, foreign girl she knew nothing about alone in her apartment.
Well, it's your own fault, her mind chastised her. You offered her a place to stay. Did you plan on just following her around until she got tired of it and left?
Megumi bit her lip. At some point, she had decided to trust this girl without even realizing it... and the weird thing was, she didn't feel as much trepidation at that thought as she felt she should.
She smiled and reached into her pocket, taking a key off her Go Go Happy Panda key ring. "Here," she said, offering the key to Belldandy. "It's my spare. Help yourself to anything in the fridge. I'll take your clothes to that cleaner I told you about, but you should probably rest and take it easy, okay?"
"Hai," Belldandy replied.
Megumi stood up and grabbed her gym bag as she headed to the door.
"Megumi san?"
The girl turned and found Belldandy standing there, that same disarming smile on her face. She reached out and took the mortal girl's hands. "Thank you," she said. "You opened your heart to a stranger in need when you did not have to."
"Hey, it's not a problem..."
Belldandy closed her eyes. "May fortune smile upon you."
Megumi blinked. For a moment, she thought there had been a flash of light... but it must have been a reflection from the front window.
The foreign girl was smiling at her. She blinked the momentary flash from her eyes and smiled back.
"You just take it easy, okay?"
"Hai. Oh, Megumi san?"
"Yeah?"
"I was just wondering," Belldandy began nervously, looking at her feet. "Will I have a chance to meet and thank your brother... for helping me?"
Megumi smiled and wondered if the foreigner was coming down with a case of Damsel-in-Distress syndrome. She almost hoped so. Any girl was better than Sitri...
"Yeah," she said with a nod. "He'll probably drop by tonight to see how you're doing."
Belldandy's grin touched her ears. "Wonderful!"
As Megumi left, Belldandy offered another silent blessing to both the girl and her brother. Their goodness of heart literally saved her life, and she promised she would never forget it.
Thinking on that brought to mind a very disturbing fact. She shouldn't be here to begin with, and she still had no idea how she survived her encounter with the strange demon.
Sitting at the kitchen table, she went over the final moments of the fight in her mind. She was down, weakened, beaten and yet...
When she touched the demoness, that touch burned her.
She looked down at her hand and wondered why. The demon hadn't reacted when she touched her other arm, so what was it about her left...
The ring twinkled knowingly at her. Biting her lip, Belldandy removed the ring and studied it carefully. Perhaps it possessed magical qualities.
Deciding to check, she placed the ring on the table and held her hand about four inches over it, allowing her powers to heighten her senses, scanning the piece of jewelry for its make and qualities. What she found both disappointed and intrigued her.
She was disappointed because despite her momentary suspicion, there were absolutely no magical properties about the ring. No spells, charms or curses. It was what it was and no more.
The goddess was intrigued, however, by one almost mundane fact about the ring. It was made on Earth. This gave Belldandy pause. Where would Skuld come by a ring from Earth? Her sister had never been to this realm. And Belldandy's experiences on Earth consisted entirely of granting wishes, actions that took only a few moments and did not allow for shopping trips.
So how did it get to Heaven for Skuld to give it to her?
She picked up the ring and examined it with her blue eyes, trying to will it to explain itself.
The ring, however, only twinkled at her and kept its secrets to itself.
888
Hasegawa grumbled as she tried to balance her books in her arms while locking her apartment. Finally getting it right, she turned just as her textbooks began to slide out of her hands...
Only to be caught by a familiar woman who had come up behind her.
After the initial jump in surprise, Hasegawa smiled. She liked Sitri senpai. She was always nice to her and never treated her like a flat-chested kid. The silver-tressed woman smiled as she handed the books back to her.
"Hey, Senpai," Hasegawa said. "Thanks."
"No problem, Sora chan," Sitri replied. "Physics today, huh?"
"Yeah," the student said with a sheepish grin. "It's still kicking my butt."
"You should ask Keiichi san to tutor you," Sitri suggested. "He got an A in that class."
"I might do that," Sora said.
"Sora chan, did that girl ever show up again?" Sitri suddenly asked.
"You mean the foreigner?" Sora followed this up with an embarrassed blush a moment later. "Sorry," she said. She didn't mean for it to sound like that.
"It's all right, Sora chan," Sitri said with a smile. "So... the girl?"
Hasegawa shook her head. "Sorry, no. Didn't she show up at your place?"
"Didn't who show up?" Sitri asked.
Hasegawa blinked. "Um..." Sitri stared into her eyes, her violet orbs seeming to reach into Hasegawa's soul and grab hold of it. The girl felt a warmth in her eyes that spread through her head, fogging her thoughts. "There was a... a..."
"A what, Sora chan?" Sitri asked pleasantly.
Hasegawa blinked. "I'm sorry," she said with a smile. "I must have been thinking of something else."
Sitri smiled. "That's all right. You have a good day at school, Sora chan. I'll ask Keiichi about tutoring you."
"Thanks, Senpai!"
The demoness turned and smiled as she walked away from the apartment. Now that she was certain Hasegawa wouldn't go asking Keiichi about their mysterious foreign visitor, she could start the search in earnest. Somewhere in Nekomi was a goddess she had to find, humiliate and destroy.
888
Belldandy wiped her hands on a dish towel after putting the last dish away. The very least she could do was Megumi san's dishes. Turning, she wondered what she should do next. She felt a wave of drowsiness wash over her and considered sleeping for a bit more, but that was unacceptable. She couldn't just take advantage of Megumi san's hospitality like that and sleep while there were chores that needed to be done.
A part of her knew what she was doing. She didn't want to think about the task ahead of her, so she was busying herself with other things. At some point, she knew, she would have to face the unknown demon again. It could not be coincidence that Hell's servant found her so quickly after arriving. And she would have to face Keiichi Morisato as well. That almost gave her more trepidation than facing the demon. Facing an enemy of Heaven was easy, facing up to her own failure frightened her.
"GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT!" a deep voice howled at her from everywhere and nowhere as the house shook.
She looked up and blinked. "Ghost san?" she asked. "Would you like to come out and talk?"
The ghost didn't reply.
"I might be able to help you," Belldandy offered with a smile.
"LEAVE THIS PLACE OR I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!"
"That's not very nice," Belldandy told him with a disappointed finger wave.
"BE GONE FROM THIS PLACE!" the ghost demanded again.
Belldandy's nose scrunched in irritation. If this truly was a wandering spirit trapped in this place by an inability to move onto the next life, then she was sympathetic, but this hostile behavior was simply unacceptable.
"As a goddess first class, unlimited license, I command thee to show thyself!" she ordered with steel in her voice.
The ghost seemed to hesitate at this new development. Finally, with a puff of acrid smoke, a tall, white-haired being appeared in the kitchen before her. She blinked at the sight and the realization that she wasn't looking at a ghost at all.
"You're an Earth Spirit," she declared.
888
Sitri growled as she leapt from telephone pole to telephone pole, searching the streets as she went. She wasn't foolish enough to believe the goddess had given up and gone back to Heaven. It wasn't their way. They had a tenacity born from the firm belief that they were always right, and that tenacity would lead to Belldandy's downfall.
If Sitri could find her.
She laughed as the truth of her situation and the simple solution came to her. She didn't have to find Belldandy because she knew where Belldandy was going.
The demoness paused on a light post just long enough to change course and return to the house.
888
"I've reset the line," Belldandy told him. "So you can come and go as you please."
The Earth Spirit sighed in relief and smiled. "Thank you, Lady Belldandy," he told her with genuine feeling. "If there is anything I can do to repay you..."
"If you would," she began quietly. "Please look after Megumi san."
"I shall," he promised.
"And one other thing," she said.
The deity waited for her to continue.
"I'm... being hunted," she said. "By a demon of great power." She collected her thoughts and continued. "It would be best if she not find me. Can you use your powers to mask mine?"
The Earth Spirit bowed low. "It shall be done, Lady Belldandy!"
Belldandy bowed back. "Thank you very much!"
"If I may, Lady Belldandy," The Earth Spirit began, "Should you not return to Heaven? If this demon is actively seeking you..."
The goddess closed her eyes. "I have a mission here," she said. "And I will not abandon it, no matter the threat. I ask for your support in this."
"Then I am yours!"
888
Aurora sighed and rubbed her eyes. She didn't have to be at work for another eighteen hours, and she had a feeling she would be spending the overwhelming majority of them here in her sister's office, going over Oracle's notes.
Despite her name, Oracle wasn't a goddess of the future. Control over Time was left to the Norns. Oracle was more of a researcher, a "Time-ologist," as stupid as the name sounded. She researched the future's script and made sure there were no anomalies or conflicts. While Aurora had chosen not to follow her sisters into the narration business, she had no illusions that it was easy work.
What she was finding in her sister's work, however, was frightening. Belldandy's time with the mortal was all there, hastily outlined by her sister in screenplay format from their first meeting to the battle with the Lord of Terror to Velsper's attempt to stop the universe all the way to Keiichi's death and triggering of a singularity that seems to cause a massive cascade failure in Yggdrasil.
This part Oracle had circled with a note written in the margin in red ink that said, "The First End."
Which, Aurora found out, was true. Turning the page, she saw that somehow, after the world ended, things had reset to the moment Keiichi Morisato had made his wish. It gave her a headache. But once that portion of the script ended with yet another reset, things started to diverge again.
The script clearly called for Keiichi Morisato to make his wish again, yet, if what Oracle told her was true, that still hadn't happened.
And perhaps that was a very good thing.
Aurora was no "Time-ologist" (Almighty, she hated that term...), but it seemed to her that Keiichi Morisato and Belldandy were caught in some kind of endless reset loop. Destiny mandated that they be together, yet being together brings about Ragnarok.
The Dawn sighed and leaned back in her chair. Did her sister really expect her to get Morisato and Belldandy together if it meant killing trillions of beings?
She flipped back to the start of their script, the day Morisato first made his wish to Belldandy.
I would like a goddess like you to always be by my side.
Aurora tapped at the line with her pencil. Oracle had underlined the statement three times and circled it twice. In the margin her sister had stenciled a quick note followed by several exclamation marks.
This is the problem!!!!!!!!
The Dawn let out a breath.
"Aurora?"
Turning, she saw Oracle standing in the doorway. "What are you doing?"
"Researching before I go out to look for them," Aurora told her seriously. "Your notes are very detailed, interesting stuff."
Oracle arched an eyebrow. "But?"
"But you're out of your mind if you think I'm going to help you do this," Aurora spat. "You wrote these notes! You know what will happen if they are thrown together again!"
"It is our job to right Destiny."
"You call it 'righting Destiny!'" Aurora bit back. "I call it 'Ragnarok!' I call it the eradication of every living thing in Creation!"
"You don't understand..."
"Understand what?!" Aurora cried. She held up the notes, Oracle's own scribblings damning the older goddess. "Give the Norns the credit they deserve! They saw what would happen and despite the pain it would cause Belldandy, they stopped it from happening! Why would you want me to undo that!?"
"Because it is Destiny's will that they be together!" Oracle snapped back. "But it is not Destiny's will that Creation be destroyed! That's what script-work is all about, Aurora! Deconfliction! Correlation need not be causation! Not in this case!" She snatched the notes from her little sister's hand, the red words, "The First End," prominent at the top.
"This!" Oracle went on, holding the pages aloft. "This is not the way it should have ended! It could have ended better! They deserved better!" Her voice softened. "And with a little work, we can give them better."
Aurora let out a breath and rubbed her temples. "How?"
"The wish is the key," Oracle said. "I'm certain of it. Confliction and deconfliction are very sensitive to Chaos. Creation, the future, can all turn on a single poorly-phrased statement."
"So what you're saying is I need to find them before that wish is granted," Aurora said. "Then what?"
Oracle bit her lip. "I don't know."
888
"Belldandy... this... this is awesome!" Megumi gasped out as she took in the sight that met her upon entering the kitchen.
The college student hadn't even been aware that the contents of her refrigerator could be made into such a feast, yet it appeared that the foreign girl had somehow managed it.
Belldandy clapped her hands together, happy at Megumi's reaction. "I'm so glad!" she said. "Please!" she begged, gesturing to the empty seat. "Dig in! I think I'm going to go take a bath."
Megumi sat down as the girl walked down the hall. Before she could lift her chopsticks to her mouth, there was a knock on the door.
"Come on in!" she called.
The door opened, and her brother entered. "Hey," he said. Seeing the spread laid out before him, he blinked. "Wow, what's the occasion?"
"Your new girlfriend can cook!" Megumi replied in glee. Bringing a rice ball to her mouth, she chewed in ecstacy. "Oh... Oh my god... She's a keeper..."
"You mean she's awake?!" Keiichi asked, sitting down across from her.
"Oh," Megumi said sheepishly. "Yeah, I meant to call, but I got caught up in other things. Her name's Belldandy. I invited her to stay until she gets on her feet."
"Stay?"
"Yeah," Megumi went on. "She's kind of reserved, doesn't talk about herself a lot, but I get the feeling that she came here looking for something and didn't find it, and now she's kind of stuck here."
"Oh yeah?"
She nodded. "Yeah, and it looks like you didn't just help a sick girl home. She said she was attacked in the park."
"Jeez," Keiichi whispered. "Did she talk to the police yet?"
"I don't think so, and I don't think we should push her. She's probably scared enough as it is being alone in a new country."
"Okay," Keiichi said, plucking a rice ball from the platter at the table's center.
Megumi gave him a side-long glance. "She's really looking forward to meeting you," she said slyly.
"Why?" Keiichi asked mid-chew.
"Because you saved her life," Megumi said with a grin. "I think you made an impression. She keeps talking about wanting to thank you."
"I didn't do anything," he said. "God, these are good," he went on, plucking another rice ball from the plate.
"Give yourself some credit, Kei chan," Megumi said with a knowing smile. "You rescued the damsel in distress from the evil dragon. In the story books, that usually means..."
"What are you doing?" he asked her suddenly.
"What? Nothing," Megumi said. "I'm just saying that she seems like a really nice girl... and she can cook... and..."
Keiichi glared at her. Megumi found herself glaring back.
"You can do so much better!" she finally hissed.
"What the hell do you have against her?!" Keiichi snapped.
The younger Morisato growled to herself, knowing that there was no good answer. All she had was feelings and instinct, and while they had served her well in the past, it wasn't exactly rock-hard evidence.
"She's wrong for you," Megumi told him. "I can feel it. That... woman... is wrong for you!"
"Wrong how?!" he demanded. "Dammit, Megumi, every time we talk, you run her down, and she's been nothing but nice to you!"
"I don't expect you to understand," she said, her voice remaining even as his rose. "It's just a feeling. But at the same time I have never been as sure about something as I am this. That woman is up to something, and she's using you to do it. No offense, Kei chan, but looks and money? How did you two meet again? What did you say? You were modeling for her art class or something?"
Keiichi stood up. "You don't have to like her," he said. "But I do expect you to be civil and accept her." He sighed. "Look, I just dropped by to see how things were going and pick up that part you wanted me to look at."
"It's in my room," she said, facing away from him. "I appreciate the help... Really, Kei chan, I mean..."
"Yeah," he said irritably, leaving the kitchen and starting down the hall.
888
As he walked down the hall toward his sister's bedroom, he tried to put the anger from their last conversation out of his mind. Girls were simply weird. That had to be it. That had to be why Megumi hated Sitri and Sitri, though polite, didn't care for Megumi either.
Which sucked no matter how he sliced it.
He turned the corner, his mind cluttered with questions about how he was going to get the two most important women in his life to at least be civil to one another. So preoccupied with this was he, in fact, that he didn't notice the towel-clad young woman until he bumped into her.
The boy took a step back and blinked, his face turning a deep crimson as he got a good look at what he had just bumped into.
Belldandy, a violet towel wrapped around her body and her hair pinned up, blinked as well before realization struck her and she smiled happily. "You must be Kei chan!" she surmised.
So awestruck by the sight of her, he didn't answer right away. After a moment of staring, he finally caught himself and coughed. "Um... Yeah, that's me," he said. He cleared his throat again nervously. "I... uh... I guess you're Belldandy, huh?"
"Hai!"
The goddess, finally able to get a good look at her savior, studied the young man intently, smiling as she reaffirmed her belief that he had kind eyes and a gentle soul. Though, for some reason, he appeared flushed and cleared his throat often. Perhaps he was ill.
She bowed to him, and he had to physically turn his gaze to keep from trying to look down the towel at her.
"I owe you a great debt," she said. "Thank you so much!"
"It... It was no problem," he stuttered out. As she rose again, he looked at her eyes and found himself trapped there, unable to avert his gaze.
Belldandy stood there patiently, perfectly content to stare right back into his eyes. The brown orbs were comforting, almost like she were sitting by a warm fire back home under her favorite blanket.
They stared at one another for another minute before Keiichi finally managed to break away from her eyes. "I'm sorry!" he said suddenly. "I... um... didn't mean to stare, it's just..."
"Hai?"
"Well..." He smiled and shook his head. "Forget it."
"Forget it?"
"I was just thinking something, but... I mean... Are you sure you're new here?"
Belldandy blinked at him.
"I... I just get the feeling that we've met before..."
The boy kicked himself. It was the absolute most tackiest, overused come-on in history, and the worst part was, he wasn't even coming onto her. He honestly felt, as he looked into this woman's eyes, that he had seen them somewhere before.
Of course, if Sitri had heard him say that...
For a goddess, a being ostensibly of goodness and purity, his girlfriend had something of a temper on her.
Rather than laugh, which was what he fully expected her to do, Belldandy looked harder into his eyes, as if searching for something.
The boy blinked at the intensity of her stare. It felt like she was looking into him.
At first, Belldandy doubted his assertion. After all, unless she had granted him a wish in the past, there was no reason for her to have even laid eyes on him before he rescued her, however...
There was something there. A wispy tendril of, if not recognition, then definitely familiarity. She tried to reach out to it, to grasp it with her mind...
He cleared his throat nervously, and the moment was over.
"I... um... gotta get going," he said almost reluctantly. "I... er... just came to get a part from Megumi's room."
Belldandy's face fell, her disappointment made plain by the droop in her eyes. "You're not staying for dinner?"
"I... I can't," he said truthfully, regret flavoring his words. "I have to get back to..." For a brief moment, pinned to the spot by the woman's eyes, his girlfriend's name fled him. "My... um... My girlfriend," he finally finished.
"Oh," Belldandy said with a smile. She squashed a momentary feeling of disappointment. Of course he would have a lover. A man like that, a warm, gentle person with such kind eyes would have any number of young women desiring to spend their lives with him.
"I see," she said with a smile. "She must be a wonderful person," she complimented.
"Yeah," he said.
"Gomen," she said sadly. "I had hoped to thank you for helping me. Megumi san said you would be coming over, so I made a special dinner."
He suddenly felt like a jerk. She had gone through a lot of trouble...
His earlier problem occurred to him again, and a possible solution presented itself.
"Um... did you make enough for four?"
888
Belldandy hummed happily as she quickly chopped an onion at the kitchen counter. While technically it was true she had made enough for four people, she didn't feel what she had made was adequate, so as Kei sama returned to his home to retrieve his girlfriend, she worked on adding to the dinner she prepared and Megumi had already sampled.
She added the onions to the frying pan and stirred, her smile unmovable even as her eyes watered from the onions. When Kei sama had explained what he wanted to do, to try to bring his sister and girlfriend closer together, she was ecstatic. To bring peace to his home and family was the perfect way to thank him for his help.
It's such a simple wish to grant, she thought.
The goddess blinked, wondering why her mind had phrased it like that. Before she could think on it further, the front door opened and Megumi stepped in holding a garment covered in clear plastic.
"Ah! Megumi san! Where did you go?" Belldandy asked. When she had come to the kitchen after Kei sama left, her new roommate was gone without a note or goodbye.
"I wanted to grab your dress before the cleaners closed," Megumi told her, holding up the plastic-wrapped dress. True to her word, it was her sky-blue outfit, now clean and pressed.
"Thank you very much!" Belldandy cried.
Megumi noticed the onions sizzling in the pan and arched an eyebrow. "More cooking?"
Belldandy smiled and turned back to the pan. "Your brother and his girlfriend are coming over for dinner."
The college student took a deep breath. "Oh yeah?" she asked in resignation.
"Hai," Belldandy replied with a gentle smile. "Kei sama is concerned. He wants very much for you and his girlfriend to be close."
"Great," Megumi muttered as she walked into the back to hang up Belldandy's dress.
The goddess resumed humming as she stirred the onions. She wondered what Kei sama's girlfriend was like. The boy seemed like the kind of gentleman who would attract only the kindest, gentlest, most lovely of young women.
She was probably tall, with long, silky hair and perfect skin...
The goddess bit her lip.
Perhaps... perhaps she could have oily skin? she seemed to ask herself. And... it's certainly possible that she's not... too tall... And I'm willing to bet she has split ends!
Yes, that was certainly possible!
Though she felt guilty about it, she had to admit her spirits were buoyed by the possibility that Kei sama's girlfriend was not perfect...
Though, she couldn't really explain why...
888
He heard the sink running when he walked through the door then the sound of her voice as his goddess sang.
"Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers," she sang softly as she scrubbed a dirty dish in the sink. "One hundred million angels singing... Multitudes are marching to a big kettle drum..."
Keiichi leaned against the doorframe, watching her as she washed the dishes, admiring her beauty in pursuit of such a simple, mundane act.
"Voices calling and voices crying," she sang softly. "Some are born and some are dying..."
The boy coughed quietly, trying not to disturb her, but she went quiet and turned her head to him, smiling at him.
"Welcome home, Keiichi san," she said, turning off the water and drying her hands. Walking up to him, she placed her hands on his chest and leaned in for a kiss. "I'll start dinner. Why don't you have a nice, hot bath?"
"Actually," Keiichi said with a tone of theatricality, "We're going to Megumi's for dinner."
Sitri took a step back and offered him a skeptical look. "Megumi's?" she asked. "Keiichi san... no offense to Megumi san... but she burns water."
"Not to fear!" Keiichi said with a bright smile. "Her new roommate cooks like a first class chef!"
The demoness didn't appear convinced. "But... I was planning on making something special tonight," she argued weakly.
Keiichi sighed in resignation. "Okay, Sitri, look," he said. "I want to have dinner there tonight because... well... I want you and Megumi to talk."
"Megumi and I?" she replied with an arched eyebrow.
"Yeah," he said, taking a breath. He turned and walked into the living room, sitting down on the dark red love seat Sitri had insisted on buying. It gave them a place to "be together," she had said.
He looked up at her.
"You're the two most important women in my life," he told her quietly. "And you can't be in the same room together, and I hate that. I figured if I got the two of you together over dinner, you could air things out and maybe..."
Sitri growled, but made it a point to do so at such a low volume that there was no way Keiichi could hear her. Of all the mortals the demoness had encountered thus far, Megumi Morisato was the worst. Sayoko she had taken care of early. The moment the woman had challenged her for the asinine title of "Campus Queen," the duchess of the damned had proceeded to covertly ruin her life, using a little urchin of a daemon named Senbei to systematically dismantle the young woman's looks, social standing and fortune.
When Aoshima approached her, Sitri knew his goal right away and "naively" led him on just enough to get into a love hotel with him...
At which point she started screaming like a woman being murdered. When security kicked the door in, they found a half-dressed Sitri with tears running down her face, crying about how the young man had tried to force himself on her. He was now registered as a sex offender and required to inform everyone in his neighborhood that he was indicted for attempted rape.
All of this occurred out of Keiichi's sight, of course, but Megumi was going to be difficult. She seemed to notice, the moment she arrived, that Sitri was not what she seemed and wasted no time telling Keiichi how he would be better off without her. Keiichi didn't seem to believe her, and unfortunately, Sitri saw no good way to get rid of her short of killing her, and she wasn't quite ready to take that step... just yet, anyway.
Still, if it made Keiichi happy with her, and if she was willing to make the first move and prove she wanted to make him happy...
Sitri smiled and approached him, throwing a leg over his and straddling the boy. Keiichi blinked up at her as she picked up a pack of cigarettes from the end table nearby.
She gently placed one of his cancer sticks in his mouth and caressed his cheek.
"Do I make you happy, Keiichi san?" she whispered.
He swallowed. "Y...Yeah," he mumbled, the cigarette swaying in his mouth as he spoke.
"Then I will continue to make you happy," she went on, snapping her fingers and summoning a small, orange flame to her fingers. She moved it to the end of the cigarette, lighting it for him. "That is my role as your goddess," she went on. "To give you everything you've ever wanted. To protect you from harm." She smiled as he took a long drag from the cigarette. "To make sure you enjoy life to the fullest..." Reaching up, she gently plucked the cigarette from his lips and put it to hers, taking a long drag.
"I am yours," she whispered. Leaning down, she locked her lips over his and breathed the smoke into him. Parting, she found the boy looking almost hypnotized by her words and actions. "And if you want to eat at Megumi's, then we shall eat at Megumi's."
888
Belldandy laid out the last plate and admired her handiwork. Hopefully, with a relaxing dinner, Megumi san and Kei sama's girlfriend could break the ice and talk about their issues. She smiled, happy that she could do something to bring them together, to hopefully bring some measure of harmony to their relationship.
All that was left was for her to change into something more appropriate and everything would be set. She rushed back to her room and looked through the clothes Megumi had loaned her. It was hard to find something to suit the Norn's taste. Megumi's fashion sense centered around jeans and t-shirts.
She heard the woman's voice call out from the living room as she searched the closet.
"Belldandy?"
"Hai!?" she called back, her eyes not leaving the garments as she moved from one hanger to another.
"Kei chan and Sitri are here!"
"Okay, I'll be ri...." She broke off as Megumi's words caught up to her brain.
Sitri? she thought. No... Surely it's some coincidence.
Although it was not a common name, Belldandy had heard it before, all gods and goddesses had. Sitri was something of an urban legend in Heaven, supposedly a demon of incredible power. Some even said she was, like the Norn's sister, a daughter of Hild, though no one could confirm it. But she did find it odd that a mortal would name their daughter for such a gruesome woman... real or imagined.
She heard the front door open and close. "Hey, Megumi," she heard Kei sama greet.
"Hey, Kei chan," she replied. Then a moment later with just the slightest bit of frost in her tone. "Sitri."
"Megumi, it's so nice to see you!"
Belldandy froze, her blood going cold.
No... No, surely not...
That voice... That voice!
Then she felt it, that same feeling of dread that preceded the demoness's appearance last time.
She was here.
Belldandy pressed herself against the wall near the door and carefully edged her head into the hall. She saw Kei sama standing there with Megumi. Then the woman in the red dress appeared, and she just managed to pull her head back as Sitri turned hers toward the goddess.
The Norn started to hyperventilate. She felt her skin growing colder. How? How could that demoness be here?! And as one of Kei sama's loved ones?! It didn't make sense.
"So, Keiichi tells me this new roommate of yours can cook," Sitri said with just a hint of disapproval, as if the assertion somehow undercut her own cooking skills.
Keiichi?! her mind screamed. Keiichi Morisato sama!? Belldandy shut her eyes and silently admonished herself. Destiny had placed her within arm's length of the mortal she had been sent to meet, and she had totally missed it!
"She's great," Megumi said confidently. "Definitely the best I've ever tasted."
"Well... I can't wait to meet her," Sitri replied.
"She's in her room," Megumi said. "I'll go get her."
"I'll go," Sitri offered sweetly. "I still want to meet her."
Oh no! Belldandy thought. A mirror! I need to find a mirror!
She cast her eyes about the room, searching for an escape, but the closest mirror was in the bathroom down the hall. The goddess heard the approaching footsteps, and her eyes went to the window.
888
Sitri left the siblings in the living room and approached the new girl's room. This mortal girl had apparently impressed her Keiichi, and she wanted to size her up in private. If she was no threat to her, all would be well. If she had a chance of undermining her in Keiichi's eyes, she would simply have to... leave.
She stopped at the door and knocked, but there was no answer.
"Hello?" she called, opening the door a crack and peering inside.
The room was empty. Sitri took a few steps inside and looked about. The window on the far side of the room was open, the curtains blowing gently in the breeze from outside.
Her head turned to the right and found a familiar blue dress wrapped in cellophane hanging in the closet. For a moment, her heart stopped in her chest, and she reached out and touched the garment.
Keiichi poked his head around the corner.
"Hey," he said. "Did you find Belldandy?"
Sitri smiled a cat-like grin. "Hai," she whispered, fingering the dress. "I did..."
TO BE CONTINUED...