-4-
Back in the conference room, Urd stands to the side as she listens to her half-sister speak. Suddenly, she feels it, causing her to gasp, eyes wide. A feint, yet familiar pulse of energy only she and Belldandy would be attune to. Belldandy stops in mid sentence and looks at Urd.
"Did you feel that?" she inquires with a worried look.
Urd nods, scratching her chin in thought, trying to remember the last time she felt this particular pulse. Suddenly, a realization comes to her. "Senbee!" she exclaims, snapping her fingers. Belldandy's eyes widen with anxiety. She turns and bolts out the door without a word. Urd turns to the four women in the conference room, "I'm sorry, we have sensed something that may help us explain how this happened." With that, she twirls on her heels and follows her sister, leaving the rest of the occupants to look at each other in puzzlement.
XXX
As Dita leads Keiichi down the corridor, he indulges her as she prattles on, spinning fantastic stories about giant robots called Vanguards combining with these things called Dreads to form even bigger robots called Vandreads. To Keiichi, it just sounds like something out of Skuld's manga rags. It was just too fantastic for him to comprehend. Then, with a twinge of guilt, he realizes that wishing for and receiving a Goddess as your personal chaperone for the rest of your life could be seen as just as fantastic.
Suddenly, Dita stops and starts rifling through the pockets of the short mini-skirt she is wearing. "Oh dang-it!" she cries out dejectedly. "I seem to have forgotten my recipe key! I need to go to my room and get it. It's just around the corner, stay here, I will be right back!"
"Uh, ok," replies Keiichi. He did not like the idea of being left here all by himself, but it seemed safe enough. He watches as Dita leaves. She seems like a nice kid, he thinks to himself as he moves over to one side of the corridor and leans against one of the doors.
Suddenly, he feels the door start to slide to one side. He takes a step forward to avoid falling, and starts to turn to apologize to whoever was behind him. Before he can, two hands appear from inside the room, grab him and pull him inside.
He lands on the floor with a thud. "Ouch!" he complains, rubbing his backside. "Whats going on?"
"Oh, sorry, I must have pulled to hard," replies a sultry voice. A woman steps out of the shadows. She has flowing blonde hair and stunning looks. She is wearing a black dress that is slit down the sides from her hips to the floor, and in the front from her naval to her neck. Her breasts are nearly bursting out from the sides of the slit, much like Urd's when she is in her goddess attire. A small spurt of blood pops out of Keiichi's nose as he looks upon the stunning woman.
"I can't help but notice that you like what you see," she purrs. "My name is Jura, and this is your lucky day, big boy!"
Keiichi looks on in fear as he tries desperately to focus on Jura's face. She was indeed one of the top five most stunning women he has ever seen. But if Belldandy saw him here…
"Yeah, I don't think this is a good idea," he sputters.
Jura begins to approach him. As she does, he tries to scurry away. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to hide. "What do you mean it's not a good idea? You are new here, which means you are a free agent!"
"Free agent?!" exclaims Keiichi.
Jura poses for a second, one hand on her hip, the other holding her hair up from the back. The other side of Keiichi's nose pops. "Look, you're the new guy here," explains Jura. "Hibiki has Dita, Duela has Parfet, and Bart is chasing after BC! Now that you are here, I should be next in line!" She rushes forward and grabs Keiichi, pressing his head in between her breasts. He nearly passes out.
Recovering for just a second, he tries to push away, but his attempts are futile. "What do you want from me?" he yells.
"Why, I want to have a baby!" says Jura, giggling.
With a burst of strength, Keiichi frees himself from the blonde beauty. "I don't even think so!" he cries and tries to jump across the bed in an attempt to escape. Unfortunately, Jura is slightly faster. She kicks out his legs from underneath him, causing him to land right in the middle. Faster than a cat, she is on top of him, straddling his hips and holding his arms down above his head.
"That's better!" she purrs. "Now, give me what I want!" With that, she leans forward and begins kissing him across his entire face.
Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. "Keiichi, are you in there?"
Recognizing the voice, he cries out at the top of his lungs; "BELLDANDY! HELP!"
Jura raises up and looks at him in confusion. "Who's Bell…"
Before she can finish, a blinding light shoots forth from one of the many mirrors in Jura's room. Belldandy burst forth from the mirror and alights on the floor next to the bed. Not seeing what's going on at first, she looks around frantically. "Keiichi?!"
"Belldandy! Close your eyes!" yells out Keiichi, but it's too late as she locks in on him and the stunned Jura. Desperatly, he tries to explain. "It's not what you think! She…" He stops himself. He can see that it is already too late. A blank expression crosses Belldandy's face as she tenses up. He tries to get Jura's attention, but she is so shocked at what she saw that she cannot move.
"We should take cover," he deadpans because he knows what will happen next.
XXX
Outside, Urd leans against the wall next to the door to Jura's room, a knowing smile across her face. She looks up to see the redhead from before come flying around the corner.
"I found it, Keiichi!" she exclaims, but comes to a screeching halt at the sight of elder goddess. Urd brings her finger to her lips to shush the girl as she listens to what's going on inside. Seconds later, the three younger women from the conference room round the corner.
They all stop as Urd holds up her palm to them. "Whats going…" starts Meia, but stops when Urd shushes her as well.
Crossing her arms across for chest from as moment, she thinks to herself; It's been a long time since I have seen this! Giddy with anticipation, she raises her hand and holds out three fingers. She lowers them one by one as she counts down.
"Three"
"Two"
"One"
Before she can say zero, the door to Jura's room violently explodes outward, filling the room with smoke. She can hear the others coughing and sputtering as the ventilation system struggles to clear the air. As the smoke dissipates, she sighs with satisfaction. "Just like old times," she muses to herself as she turns to enter the room.
When she comes in, the first thing she sees is Belldandy. She is shaking her head to clear it the fog she usually experiences immediately after one of her Jealousy Storms. Standing in the middle of what used to be a bed is a blonde women with a very skimpy dress on, holding on to Keiichi. Both have blank expressions on their faces and are covered in soot.
"Is she yours?" says the blonde, meekly.
"You can say that," replies Keiichi, who promptly falls forward.
"Keiichi!" yells Belldandy , who runs forward and catches him before he hits the ground. She cradles him in her arms, stroking his singed hair. "I'm so sorry, I know she was holding you against your will, I just couldn't control it!"
Urd and Belldandy are startled as the blonde crashes down on the remnants of the bed in front of them. "I'm so sorry!" exclaims Belldandy again.
Urd hears a gasp from behind as Meia and Gascongne enter the room. "What happened here?" exclaims Meia.
Urd turns to them. "It seems that this one here tried to seduce young Keiichi here."
Gascongne snorts, and crosses her arms across her chest. "That's one hell of a jealousy streak your sister's got there," she quips. Urd knew she would like this one.
From behind the two, a green haired woman dressed in what can only be described as a blue on blue swimsuit bursts into the room. She looks around frantically at the ruined room, then rushes across the bed to the fallen blonde. "Jura! Are you ok?! Speak to me!" she pleads.
Jura, with her eyes shut, turns away from the green haired girl. "Hit the snooze button, Barnette, I don't want to wake up yet," she replies, barely coherent.
Barnette looks around at the destroyed room. All of Jura's precious mirrors have been broken, the chandelier on the ceiling in ruins. Her gaze turns to Belldandy and Urd, murder in her eyes. "What the hell did you do?"
Urd steps forward, "Serves her right for trying to steal the boyfriend of a goddess!" she replies wagging her finger at the two of them.
"I'm so terribly sorry," pleads Belldandy. "I just lose control when things like this happen. I did not mean it!"
Barnette looks as if she is going to respond, but is interrupted as Jura starts to come back around. "Ohhhhh, what happened?"
"Jura, you're alright!" exclaims Barnette with excitement.
Jura rises out of Barnette's lap, looking around groggily. "My room!" she exclaims. She shoots a look at Belldandy, then suddenly jumps up and crawls behind Barnette, using her as a shield. "Is it safe yet?"
Belldandy reaches out to Jura. "Its perfectly safe, come, I won't hurt you, let me help."
"But Belldandy!" protests Urd. "She was trying to seduce Keiichi!"
"She did not know that he was already taken, so I will not hold her responsible for her actions," replies Belldandy.
Exasperated, Urd sighs, "Same old Belldandy." She reaches down and halls Keiichi, who has finally recovered, up by the arm. She turns and ushers him, Meia, and Gascongne out the door. After making sure they are out of the way, she steps back into the room and crosses her arms, glaring at Jura. "You should feel lucky, if you had done that to my man, I would not be so charitable."
Belldandy looks up at Urd and smiles. "Oh Urd, quit teasing them." She then stands back up, looking back to Jura and Barnette. "Now don't move." She warns. They exchange worried glances.
Jura starts to protest, "Wait…" but stops short as Holy Bell emerges from Belldandy's back. "So beautiful!" she sighs, looking upon the angelic being, stars in her eyes.
Belldandy closes her eyes and lowers her head. Spreading her arms wide, she chants; "All ye sundered by mine own wrath, hear my call. Spirits of metal, spirits of reflection, spirits of all, lend me your power and return this space to rightful form!"
As light fills the room, Belldandy and Holy Bell begin to sing. Their voices meld into a single, angelic melody. All around them, pieces of the destruction she had brought upon Jura's room begin to levitate and come together. Broken mirrors turn into cracked mirrors which turn in to perfect mirrors. Charred and torn fabric begins to mend. Splintered wood and twisted metal become whole again. The door to the room returns to its proper position and slides closed. When the song is finished, the room is pristine.
Belldandy shakes her head as the light subsides, unsteady on her feet. Urd steps up and puts her arm around her to support her. "I got you," she says. Belldandy looks up and smiles. The door to the room opens and Keiichi runs in, followed by Gasconge, Meia, BC, and Dita. The four women stop and stare at the condition of the room, mouths agape. In front of Belldandy, Jura and Barnette are too stunned to move.
Keiichi comes up on the other side of Belldandy and puts his arm around her waist, assisting Urd in keeping her up. Belldandy releases from Urd and throws both arms around Keiichi, who reaches down under her legs and picks her up.
He takes a step towards Jura's bed, but Urd stops him. "Just a sec, still have one more thing to do." She steps behind him and puts both hands between his shoulderblades. "The goddess calls out to that which is hidden, reveal yourself to me!" When she finishes, she sends a short burst of energy into Keiichi's back.
She then draws her hands back from Keiichi. A globe of energy emerges from where her hands were, and floats before her.
From inside, the others can see a small figure with white, flowing hair and a green tunic. He looks back to Urd sheepishly smiles. "Mi-lady Urd! What a surprise to be blessed with your presence!"
"Yeah, whatever," replies Urd dismissively. "I will deal with you later." With that, she snaps her fingers and the globe disappears.
Keiichi looks over to Jura, "Do you mind if she rests here? She has been exerting herself quite a bit lately, she needs to rest."
Jura blinks a few times as she tries to comprehend what just happened. "Uh…um….yeah, I mean…yeah! She can rest here." Keiichi steps forward and deposits Belldandy on the bed, then lies down next to her.
Belldandy raises her head and looks at Jura with a worried face. "Did I not tidy up the room to your satisfaction?"
Jura looks back at Belldandy with a dumbfounded look. "Are you kidding?!" she exclaims. She raises her arms and begins to twirl around the room. As she does, she rattles off in rapid fire succession; "Oh my god, the mirrors are spotless and the chandelier is flawless, and oh look! my dress is clean as well, and the fabric on the walls is clean, and the bed is prestine, and no squeaking! And…"
Urd stops watching the blonde Diva dance and gush about the room and looks to her sister, who has fallen fast asleep. Laying down next to her, Keiichi looks up at Urd and gives her a thumbs up. She winks at him and then turns to the door. The four women stop watching Jura, who has now pulled Barnette in as she dances about the room, and turn their focus back to Urd. "We still have some things to discuss, no?" says Urd quietly.
Meia, is the one that finally speaks, genuine concern in her voice. "Will your sister be ok?"
"Yeah, she will be fine," replies Urd. "Once she sleeps it off, she will be right as rain!" As she moves to the door, she sees Dita looking down at the ground, looking embarrassed. "What is it?"
"Um Miss Goddess?" she says as she paws the ground with her foot. "Before Mr. Alien gets back, can one of you clean my room?"
The goddess and the other three ladies laugh as they leave the room with Dita.
XXX
As they walk down the corridor away from Jura's room, BC comes up beside Urd. "So, what was that all about?"
Urd gives BC a puzzled look, "What part are you talking about?"
BC crosses her arms across her chest as they move. "Well, I understand that you can use your powers…"
"Magic," interrupts Urd.
BC pauses, sounds out "Magic", and continues. "You can use that to manipulate your environment, but what was that you pulled out of Keiichi's back?"
"Oh, that was Senbee," replies Urd. "He calls himself the God of Disaster and Poverty, but he is really just a minor demon that gets off on causing misfortune for others. Belldandy and I felt his presence when he cast a spell on Keiichi. This whole incident was a result of his meddling."
"You mean he was controlling me?" interrupts Jura, who is walking behind them.
Urd looks back and smiles. "No, it's much simpler than that," she replies. "You're still a trollop."
"Hey!" yells Jura, but Urd ignores her.
"He only makes small changes to the environment, which diverts you from your path into a new situation that usually causes trouble." She pauses for emphasis. "He then gets some sort of perverse feedback from the negative emotions."
"Oh!" exclaims Dita, who was following behind the group. They all stop and look at her. "I left Mr. Keiichi there because I forgot my recipe key!"
Urd smiles and puts her hands on her hips. "Do you think you would have done that normally?"
Dita thinks about it for a second and then responds, "I always have my recipe key with me."
Urd stares at Dita, dumbfounded. The rest just snort in amusement. "Yep, that's our Dita!" comments Jura.
BC turns back to Urd, "So anyway…." she starts but is interrupted by a new voice.
"HEY!" yells a blue haired girl as she comes running up, her long pony tail bouncing as she moves. "Are you the one that's going to get my Hibiki back?"
Urd glances at Dita, then Jura, then back to the newcomer. This just keeps getting better!
"Go away Misty, the adults are talking here!" quips Jura.
Misty locks Jura in an angry stare. "Shut up, you hag! You're only after him for your own perverted reasons!"
Dita steps in to the fray. "You two need to leave Mr. Alien alone, Miss Goddess is going to clean my room so he can come visit ME!"
Urd looks on with interest. She can literally see the electricity shooting between the three as they continue squabble. She leans over to Gascogne and whispers "Are they always like this?"
Gascogne smiles and twirls her stick in her mouth. "We usually don't have all three of them together like this. It's not often you see the hens squabble over the rooster."
"Ah," replies Urd.
"BE QUIET!"
The trio freezes and looks at Meia. With her hands on her hips, he angrily stares them down. "Jura! Don't you and Barnette have some simulations to run on new Dread formations?"
Jura and Barnette snap to attention. "Yep! Sorry Chief, we'll get right on that!" replies Barnette, who grabs Jura and pulls her down the hall.
Meia turns to the newcomer. "Misty, you need to just go to your room and stay out of our way."
Misty's eyes tear up. She begins to cry as she turns around and runs down the corridor the way she came.
Meia turns to Dita. "You….go cook something for Keiichi."
Dita squeals in delight and bolts down the corridor in the opposite direction.
"I like them," quips Urd after a few moments of peace, causing BC and Meia to roll their eyes. If I could stay, I would have so much fun here!
BC then looks at Urd, "Now, where were we?"
XXX
Belldandy is laying in a field of green. Life stirs all around her, filling her with joy. On her back with her arms crossed behind her head, she looks up into the blue sky and sees fluffy clouds floating by. As she revels in the beauty of the scene in front of her, she notices one cloud that is out of place.
Slowly, the cloud is floating towards her. Intrigued, she stands and raises her arms to it. As it gets closer, she recognizes the aura it contains. As it makes contact with it, she is overcome with a feeling of warmth.
"Keiichi," she whispers to herself, smiling. She crosses her arms across her chest and tucks in her head, basking in the emotions that overcome her as the cloud envelops her. The love, so pure, she did not want to let it go. She looks up again to see part of the cloud form a definite shape. She reaches out as she recognizes the face of the man she loves.
Belldandy.
"Yes my love?" she asks as she strokes Keiichi's chin.
I have something to show you.
"What do you have to show me?" she replies.
It's a surprise.
Below the head of Keiichi, a torso begins to form. Sprouting arms, it reaches to her. She gladly takes the hand that forms in front of her, and allows it to lead. They walk to the edge of the meadow she was laying in, to a grove of tall trees. She looks on in wonderment as the life forces she feels increase as she approaches. Around the perimeter of the forest is a thicket, covered in roses of all different kinds. She muses about how Poerth would have loved the sight.
The thicket parts, revealing a path. The cloud of Keiichi releases her hands and points down the trail.
In there.
Belldandy nods, and enters. As she walks the path, life all around her is exploding. She enters a grove in the middle of the forest. At its center is a pool, surrounded by flat rocks. She sits down next to it and looks in. Fish of all kinds are swimming happily. She looks around, insects and birds dance, almost as if performing a ballet. The blossoms of flowers float down all around her. She looks back to the cloud of Keiichi and smiles.
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" she asks.
Look closer.
Slightly surprised, she looks back into the pool, looking as deeply as she can. Suddenly, a white light emanates from the deep, enveloping her. The light coalesces into a sphere. She puts her hands into the water and reaches for it. When she makes contact with the smooth surface, it is comforting, yet familiar. As she pulls the sphere of light out of the water, she can see something inside of it.
She can see a female form, curled into the fetal position, her long blue hair enveloping her. As Belldandy watches, the girl in the globe raises her head and looks at her, smiling. A sudden realization comes to her. She looks back to the cloud of Keiichi. "Is that…" she starts but trails off, almost in disbelief.
It is.
With those words, the girl tucks her head back. A strong breeze hits Belldandy, and the sphere becomes too heavy for her. She puts it back into the water, where it drops down and disappears. She looks up to see the cloud dissipating.
"Keiichi wait!" she pleads.
Something is going to happen, and we need to be there for it. You'll see.
"What? What's going to happen?" asks Belldandy, confused.
Something wonderful.
Still not quite comprehending, Balldandy can only ask, "What?"
I understand your confusion. You see, it's all very clear to me now. The whole thing, it's wonderful!
The cloud appears to wave as it dissipates completely. Belldandy reaches out to it, desperately willing it not leave. "Don't go!" she cries, but it is futile.
See ya soon.
She drops to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
XXX
Waking up with a start, Belldandy sits up, eyes wide. "She's here!" she gasps, then covers her mouth as she realizes she said it out loud. She glances around and is relieved to see no one else is there except Keiichi, who is sound asleep on the bed with her. On the bedside table is a pile of dishes. She caresses Keiichi's hair lovingly and feels that he is content, which comforts her.
Bringing her hands together, she concentrates for a second. Over her shoulder, a small figure pops into existence. She lays down next to Keiicho as the new arrival, a tiny version of herself, flies up and passes through the ceiling. There, she finds cables of all finds snaking to and fro. Following the cables, she deduces that they will lead to bigger and bigger bundles until she finds what she came for.
While following a particularly large bundle, she stops. Sensing a number of people below her, she sticks her head through the floor of the crawlspace, out of the ceiling above them. Below, she sees a number of women with large spectacles running around a control room. One in particular, with two huge braided pony tails on either side of her head, is chatting with a tall man in a white lab coat. She catches part of their conversation, about something called the Peaksys Pragma, and how it acts as if it were alive.
They are standing in front of an observation window, with bluish-white light filtering through it. She stands up in the crawl space and then flies in the direction of the light. She then passes through, into a huge chamber. In the center is a gigantic glowing ball. Jagged crystals hang from the ceiling around it. A catwalk crosses the chamber just over it. She approaches the sphere and upon making contact with it, her suspicions are confirmed. It is her!
She strokes the sphere lovingly, causing it to pulse, which sends the women in the room overlooking it scurrying. She then pulls back as she senses Keiichi stirring back in the room they were sleeping in. She closes her eyes and concentrates for a moment, then poofs out of existence.
In Jura's room, Belldandy opens her eyes. Beside her, Keiichi is looking at her and smiling. She returns it. "Hope I did not wake you," he says.
"Not at all, it was time for me to get up anyway," she replies. And tell Urd who I found.
A/N: This is my favorite chapter, BTW!