Disclaimer: Ah! My Goddess and all its associated characters are owned by their creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2007 ) Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
My personal gratitude goes to Mr. Kosuki Fujishima for creating the wonderful Manga, characters, settings, and plots that this fiction is based on.
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Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep… An alarm clock loudly echoed through the dimly lit room.
A figure buried within a pile of blankets reached over with an unguided hand and began slamming it down on everything on the nightstand, finally reaching the annoying little device, and silencing it for the rest of the day. After a few moments of laying still, the covers went flying off towards the right side of the bed. A bare foot touched the turquoise carpet and scratched its surface with a set toes.
A young adult sat up, twisting himself to hang off the bed as he took in a deep yawn, stretching his arms high above his head, and making balls of fists with his hands. He got up out of the bed, and stumbled towards the bathroom, flipping on the light, a short brown haired young man followed next him in the mirror, his blue eyes were still half shut.
He reached over and turned the faucet for the shower on, moments later steam began to fill the tiny room. He stepped in, allowing the hot beads of water gently massage his upper back and neck. He could still see her image from the dream he had. Long black hair, brown eyes, a blue marking on her forehead, and wearing a super cute pink outfit, he saw her with such vivid detail, though, never had he seen her before. He sighed as he picked up the soap and began washing his body.
After his morning routine, he got in his Camry and began his journey towards work. He wore a simple red pullover shirt, with blue jeans, and a pair of white sneakers. The sun was shining brightly, and the air was pleasant 72 degrees. Today appeared to be another beautiful Spring day. Another day he was locked up behind a desk and a stack of paperwork. Forty-Five minutes later, he pulled into the parking log and walked into the concrete four story building of his employment.
"Morning, Dirk." A grey haired older man said as he passed by his desk.
"Good morning Kevin." Dirk almost mumbled.
"Didn't sleep well again?" Kevin inquiered, taking up his coffee cup and following Dirk to his desk in the far back of the room.
"Yeah. I was up most of the night tossing and turning again." Dirk replied.
"I'm sure you'll get over her, and move on quickly." Kevin said trying to comfort his friend.
"Yeah, I'm sure I will too." Dirk paused while putting his brief case down next to his desk. "She left so suddenly…as if our time together had …. Not meant anything to her."
"Yeah. The cold hearted bitch." Kevin chastised. "Oh well, I'm pretty sure there is a better woman out there worthy of your love." Kevin paused and chuckled a little. "Karen didn't really deserve you anyway."
"Yeah. I guess so." Dirk said quietly.
"Well, I'll let you get started for the day." Kevin said, turning around.
"Hey Kevin?" Dirk grabbed his attention again.
"Yeah?" Kevin answered.
"Can I talk to you about something….." Dirk hesitated, shifting his eyes from left to right.
"Sure." Kevin replied. "What's on your mind."
"Let's go somewhere a little more private." Dirk suggested. "Promise me you won't think I'm crazy, okay?"
"I seriously doubt that you're crazy, Dirk." Kevin replied as the two men walked out of the office and got into Dirk's car.
"Alright, out with it. What's bothering you…besides Karen leaving?" Kevin asked as he stared into Dirk's worn out eyes.
"Have you ever….. ever had the same dream…. every night….but it was different each time?" Dirk asked.
"Boy that's a confusing question. Dirk!" Kevin chuckled. "If you mean, have I ever had the same dream night after night? No." Dirk paused. "But I have had dreams with the same person in them."
"I'm having this dream….. over and over again. Each time I see something different. I can't hear anything in the dream, but most of all…" Dirk stopped.
"Most of all?" Kevin prompted.
"Most of all…I keep seeing this girl." Dirk finally said.
"What's so wrong with that? You're still a young lad!" Kevin said.
"But I've never seen her before…yet I see her with such….such clarity…and she's the same every time I see her." Dirk replied.
"Maybe you picked her out of a commercial, or a magazine?" Kevin suggested.
"No. I'd defiantly know that. Besides, do you know how often I spend watching television? Ever since reality shows like Survivor stared airing, there hasn't really been crap on worth watching. Heck, you know as well as I do that I'm too broke to afford magazines." Dirk said, with a chuckle.
"What happens in the dreams?" Kevin asked.
"I….I don't really know. All I remember after I wake up is her image. Sometimes she's happy, and other times, she crying, or embarrassed." Dirk answered.
Kevin finally asked. "Do you like her?"
"Huh?" Dirk responded unsure of how to answer.
"Do you like seeing her… in your dreams?" Kevin revised.
"Yeah….I guess so. I mean she is pretty….but…she looks a little young." Dirk explained.
"How young?" Dirk asked.
"I – I don't know…15 maybe 16?" Dirk defended while blushing a bit.
"That's not too young for a young guy your age." Kevin paused. "I would just… enjoy the dreams while they happen, and not worry too much about it." Kevin suggested.
"It's not? But—" Dirk responded.
"Hey, if a guy my age can marry somebody half his age and get away with it, then I see nothing wrong with you…enjoying your dreams about this cute girl that's what…. three or four years younger than yourself? Besides, since you claim that you haven't seen her before, then you'll probably never meet anyway." Kevin explained, cutting Dirk off.
"I don't think that's a healthy --" Dirk replied.
"It's probably your mind's way of coping with Karen just up and walking out on you." Kevin advised.
"Yeah…maybe. Hey, you want to go out for lunch today?" Dirk said abruptly changing the subject.
"Okay. That sounds good. I'll see you around noon." Kevin said to Dirk as both men got out of Dirk's car and went back inside the building.
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Belldandy came out of the bathroom, fresh and clean from a wonderful hot soak in the tub. She entered her room and changed quickly, returning to the living room where Urd was watching television.
"Urd?" Belldandy asked.
"Yeah Bell?" She responded.
"Could you please switch to the news network?" Belldandy asked.
"Sure, but I doubt that you'll see anything about Skuld's case." Urd replied.
"I'm concerned. Already a week has gone by…. and not a word about Skuld…anywhere." Belldandy answered.
"So? I'm sure it's just a part of the trial process." Urd suggested, not taking her gaze away from the television screen.
"Would you do me a huge favor?" Belldandy asked Urd desperately.
"How come I've got the feeling that I'm going to regret it?" Urd said sarcastically.
"Could you go up to Yggdrasil and… see if you can find something?" Belldandy asked, almost begging.
Urd turned and looked at her younger sister. She enjoyed not having her youngest brat sister around, hanging all over Belldandy, but at the same time, she missed picking on her.
"Alright, but you'll owe me for this. Hopefully I won't get caught." Urd sighed as she leapt through the television, teleporting to Heaven.
"I know." Belldandy said quietly, staring at the television.
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Skuld slowly opened her eyes, staring at Mist smiling at her as she knelt down beside her. She quickly realized that she was still on the floor.
"What happened?" Skuld wearily asked.
"Rind cheated. You won. Congratulations, Skuld." Mist cheerfully said.
"Cheated?" Skuld replied as she sat up.
"Yeah, she used a magical attack on you. This was a test to determine your fighting combat skills. If she hadn't used a magical attack on you, most likely with time, you would have won." Mist explained.
"Oh." Skuld remarked.
"That's why starting right now, we're going to work on your magical abilities" Mist declared.
"But—" Skuld started.
"The key to using magic is to have an open heart and an open mind for the … unexpected to occur. One slightly misused word can change the entire effect of the spell you're casting." Mist lectured. "Since your element is Water, the majority of your spells will naturally come to you when working with water directly."
Mist produced a clear glass of water and set it down on the floor in front of Skuld.
"Now, make this water into a dense ball in your palms." Mist commanded.
Skuld stared at the glass of water and then glanced towards Mist.
"Go on. Try it." Mist coached.
Skuld stood up and stared down at the glass of water. She extended her arms and cupped her hands, closing her eyes as she strained to concentrate.
Two minutes later still nothing had happened.
"Skuld?" Mist spoke up causing Skuld to open her eyes and to see nothing had happened yet. She frustratingly dropped her arms and collapsed onto the floor, sitting cross-legged again in front of the water.
"I – I just can't do it anymore!" Skuld cried.
"Try again." Mist suggested.
"Why?! The outcome will still be the same! I can't do it!" Skuld sobbed.
Mist stood up and said "Skuld, follow me."
Skuld wiped her eyes and stood up, sniffling as she walked with Mist.
"Where are we going?" Skuld asked as Mist opened the door and began walking down a path away from her training grounds.
"You'll see soon enough." Mist threw back at her.
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Rind stared intently at the video display as it replayed the previous week's worth of recording. She studied each of Skuld's movements, watching her get thrown across the room several times by Mist.
"Hmph. It's a wonder how she became so good, so quickly." Rind commented to herself.
The screen then displayed Mist climbing on top of Skuld, as she slowly started to undress the young goddess.
"What does she think she's doing?!" Rind yelled angrily at the screen, her voice echoed down the hallway.
She stood up, kicking the chair backwards and stormed out of her office, heading straight down towards where the two were supposedly still training. When she got there she discovered that the room was empty, the only thing out of place was a small glass of water sitting peacefully in the middle of the room.
"Where are they." Rind grumbled as she scanned the paths that lead away from the building.
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Urd peaked around the corner carefully with her back hard against the wall, checking to make sure the coast was clear. Determining that it was, she jogged down the hallway until she stood near the entrance to the core Administration room for Yggdrasil. Bracing herself against the adjacent wall, she placed her ear to the door and listened intently.
'Well, I don't hear anything.' Urd thought to herself. Reaching her hand up, she activated the automated door as it opened. She peered inside to find nobody in the room.
"Perfect timing. Everyone is on break." Urd said as she ran over to a nearby Administration panel. She performed a system wide search for Skuld. She quickly found her personal records, inside her file were various achievements, a couple of bad conduct citations, and several requests for license upgrades – all of them denied.
Finally she stumbled onto an encrypted letter in her file. Urd attempted to unlock it, but she was met with an Access Denied error.
"That's strange. Why can't I open this file?!" Urd growled at the terminal. Hearing some of the workers coming back, she quickly noted who saved the file. "Commander Rind, Office of Special Duties." Urd logged out of the terminal with haste and ran out of the room just before the others entered from the other side.
Urd ran back to her apartment and quickly flipped on the television, teleporting herself back to Japan.
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Belldandy was in the kitchen fixing lunch for four of them when Urd came blasting through the television.
"Urd?" Keiichi asked startled as he stood up from the couch.
Belldandy came running into the living room.
"Did you find anything out?" she eagerly asked.
"Yes…..and no." Urd responded cryptically.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Megumi asked, also now standing up beside her brother.
"Have a seat and I'll explain." Urd replied.
Belldandy turned down her cooking to a low simmer, while Megumi and Keiichi both took a seat opposite of Urd on the couch. Finally joining them was Belldandy, who sat next to Keiichi.
"As you know, Bell, I went up to heaven to see if I could find any info on little Skuld. I did find something of interest." Urd explained.
"What did you find?" Belldandy asked with anxiety.
"I found an encrypted letter in her personal file on Yggdrasil, along with a bunch of license upgrade requests…all of which were denied." Urd stated.
"Oh my….I wonder how long she has been trying to get upgraded….she never mentioned anything to me." Belldandy said.
"That's not really of interest. The encrypted letter is. Now, I couldn't decipher it, but I was able to read who submitted it into her file." Urd said.
"Who?" Keiichi asked.
"Commander Rind." Urd replied with dread.
"Commander … who?" Keiichi asked.
"Rind. She's one of the lead officers in the Special Duties, Combat Division, known as the Valkyries." Belldandy stated.
"You told me of them once before." Keiichi remembered.
"Yes. I did." Belldandy confirmed.
"I wonder what Rind is up to with Skuld." Urd commented.
"I guess we'll find out when the time is right." Megumi said optimistically.
"Oh Skuld…" Belldandy said with a worried tone.
