Chapter 4
Urd yawned, and opened her eyes. This morning, she lay properly on her futon and pillow, snug under her sheet and blanket, free from any derelict sake bottles. This was definitely a nicer way to wake up. World Of Elegance agreed.
She had knocked off shortly after the disturbance when Keiichi got home, and left some simulations running overnight to narrow down the possibilities for her antidote potion. One had stopped with an error sometime during the night, but the rest were still going. She'd check on them after the breakfast she could smell cooking.
She put on one of her usual dresses, showing off her…endowments to their best advantage. She grinned at the mirror, then stepped out into the hallway. She could hear Belldandy in the kitchen. Skuld and Keiichi were apparently still in their rooms.
Urd yawned again and walked into the kitchen. "Morning, Bell."
"Good morning, Urd," she replied cheerfully, without turning around.
"Want some help?"
"No thanks. I'm used to cooking alone, and having another person moving around in the kitchen would be more of a bother than a help, I'm afraid."
"So, I'd just be in your way?"
"I didn't mean it like that," Belldandy said apologetically.
"I know. I was just kidding." She asked, more seriously, "How are you feeling this morning?"
Belldandy sighed. "A little better. I think I'm getting used to…whatever is going on."
"Ah." She grinned wickedly. "And how was your night with Keiichi?"
"Mmmm…" To her surprise, Belldandy wasn't embarrassed or uncomfortable about the question. "It was wonderful. We didn't have to say anything, or do anything, we just held each other, and it felt so right…"
"So you didn't…?"
"No! This is not the right time. We're going through these…difficulties right now, and Keiichi was a little, um…"
"Drunk."
"Just a little. He fell asleep pretty fast, and…I tucked us in."
"Sounds perfect. For you, anyway." She grinned wickedly again. "Did you show him?"
"This morning." Belldandy turned, with a slightly wicked grin of her own. "I didn't want to sleep with all my clothes on, and when we woke up… Oh, he was shocked! But…captivated, too. He kept trying not to stare, even when I told him he was supposed to. I fear I might have gotten just a little assertive. I did make the effort, after all."
"Well, good for you! Good for him, too. And as for Skuld, she needed to be straightened out."
"I was terribly harsh with her," she said regretfully. "I'll have to apologize—"
"No, I'll talk to Skuld. You finally told her what she needed to hear. I thought you should have yanked her chain a long time ago, instead of letting her go on and on like that. Maybe now she'll grow up a little."
"Do you really think…?"
"Yes. I need to talk to her first," she insisted. "She's hurt and confused, and you feel guilty. Left to yourselves, you'll just go back to your old habits."
"You…could be right."
"Course I'm right!" she declared, grinning. "I'm your Big Sister. It's my job to be right, and straighten you Little Sisters out when you need it."
Belldandy lifted the lid off a pot, sniffed the steam delicately, and replaced it, satisfied. "All right. I'll leave it to you, then."
Urd stopped at Belldandy's door first, rapped on the panel, opened it and stuck her head inside. "First call, Sunshine. Breakfast in half an hour."
"Uuuhhhh," Peorth moaned groggily. "Déjà? Feels like I just got to sleep." It was still the middle of the night for her.
"I know, but you won't want to miss Bell's breakfast."
She sighed heavily. "C'est une proposition déloyale. But, you're right. I'll make it."
Urd tapped on the doorframe of Skuld's Laboratory, then slid the panel open and stepped inside when she didn't get an answer. A motionless Skuld-sized lump huddled under her blanket.
"Morning, Little Sis," she said cheerfully. The lump did not answer. She sighed, closed the door and took two more steps. "You have to crawl out sometime, and you'll miss breakfast if you stay under there much longer."
"M'not hungry," the lump mumbled.
"If you're going to lie, you should think up better ones. I can hear your stomach growling."
"No you can't. Go 'way."
"Can't do that. You need somebody right now, and Belldandy's busy cooking breakfast."
There was a long silence. "Onee-chan hates me," the lump whimpered miserably.
Urd settled beside the futon and laid a hand on the lump. "No, she doesn't."
"Then why did she yell at me like that?"
"That was just her dumping a couple years' worth of backed-up aggravation on you all at once. She feels guilty about it. She thinks you hate her now."
That got a stronger reaction. "No! I could never hate her."
"Well, she could never hate you either. You just piss her off sometimes." She chuckled. "You piss everybody off sometimes. You piss me off all the time, and I don't hate you."
"No I don't! You're just being mean!"
"Who threw a Skuld Bomb at me yesterday?" She realized her mistake instantly. "Sorry, that was just a joke."
There was another long silence. "No it wasn't," came out reluctantly. "It's kind of mixed up, but I remember the bomb. I…I'm sorry."
"It's okay. No harm done." She patted the lump. "See? I don't hate you, and neither does Belldandy."
"You're always mean to me." the lump said sullenly.
"It's not being mean, I just don't hold things in. Neither do you." She chuckled. "So, we both get a little…agitated, sometimes. But we calm down eventually. And then we fix the house."
The lump was quiet.
"Belldandy is not good at expressing her frustration and aggravation. She thinks it's rude, and unseemly, so she smiles and lets it go, with maybe a little mild comment about what you did being not very nice. I don't think she feels them as strongly as we do, either, but she does feel some, and you've been aggravating her for a long time."
"Because of Morisato."
"You've been interfering in their relationship ever since you got here, and we're all sick of it. Even Bell."
"He's a pervert!" the lump snapped.
Urd slapped it on her best guess at where its rump should be. "No, he's not! He'a a man, a very good man. One of the best I've seen in a long time. Bell loves him, and he's worthy of her. Everybody sees that but you."
"He wants to do pervy things to her," it ground out in a sulky voice.
Urd laughed. "Well, naturally! She's a — a wonderful woman, he's a man, and he loves her. Of course he wants to express his love!"
The lump grumbled something she couldn't make out.
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe Bell wants him to do pervy things with her? And she wants to do pervy things to him?"
The lump bulged, and Skuld's head popped out. "No! She wouldn't!"
"She already has." Urd grinned at her. "Belldandy is no more a virgin than I am." Skuld stared back at her, shocked. "Heh, heh. Didn't want to think about that, did you? She's done all that pervy stuff before, quite a few times, and enjoyed it a lot." She paused thoughtfully. "Although, I'm pretty sure Keiichi hasn't."
Skuld just stared at her.
"So you see, you haven't been 'protecting' her from anything. You've just been interfering in matters that are none of your business. It's way past time she set you straight." She stopped, then added, "I'll admit, you didn't deserve to get the whole load thrown on you all at once, but that's because she's been holding it in for so long."
Skuld kept staring, unable to argue, but still unwilling to accept.
"You have to trust your big sister to make her own decisions, and do what's right for her, whether it's what you want her to do or not, and keep your nose out of her private life. And get out of bed, and come to breakfast. It'll be ready soon."
"And be nice to Morisato," she said, grouchy and resentful.
"At least stop doing and saying cruel things to him. You heard Bell, that hurts her too. Can you do that, for her?"
There was another unintelligible grumble.
"Great!" she said with a cheerful smile. "We'll see you at breakfast, then." She got up and left the room.
Skuld thought about retreating back under the blanket, then dragged herself out. Urd was right; she couldn't hide from this forever. Might as well face it now. She dug clothes out of her closet, any clothes, and put them on. She put tools in her pockets, but avoided the ones that confused her and made her think of crazy things, eldritch powers, alternate dimensions…
She chased those thoughts away, tried to think about something else, and remembered last night. She and Lind had both been about equally embarrassed when she looked up and discovered who she'd been crying on for half an hour. Neither of them had quite known what to do about it, or say, so they hadn't said anything. They'd exchanged uneasy smiles, and uncomfortable good-nights, and gone their separate ways.
They sat down to breakfast, Belldandy and Keiichi on one side of the table, Skuld on the end to Belldandy's right, Peorth on Keiichi's left, and Urd across from them. Peorth looked just a bit…frowzy this morning, as well as tired, but the food seemed to perk her up. Skuld shot occasional dirty looks at Keiichi, but kept her peace otherwise. He snuck a few fascinated glances at Belldandy, until she caught him doing it, smiled and winked at him. He turned red and concentrated on his bowl.
Conversation was sparse. Peorth was feeling time-lagged, Skuld didn't want to talk to Belldandy with Keiichi sitting right there, he was still recovering from his thrilling, but rather disturbing wake-up, and Urd couldn't think of any safe, non-magic, non-Goddess topics that wouldn't set somebody off.
As they were finishing, Urd stood up. "Keiichi. Got a minute?"
"Uh, sure," he said, puzzled.
She led him into the hallway. "Give Bell and Skuld a while alone, okay? They need to work out their…disagreement, from last night."
"Oh. I guess, you're right."
"Good." She gave him an appropriately devilish grin. "So, Bell gave you a little show this morning, did she?"
"Urd!" He turned red again. "That's— wait a minute, how did you know?"
She grinned wider. "Who do you think talked her into it? Although, she bought that…outfit, on her own. Mostly." She enjoyed his tongue-tied embarrassment a little longer. "Did you enjoy the show?" He grimaced, and turned even redder. "I'll take that as a yes." She leaned closer and murmured conspiratorially, "She's got more of those…outfits, too. If you're good, she might show you…more." He was already as red as he could get, it would seem.
Teasing Keiichi was a lot of fun, but she had work to do. "Is there something you can do in your room for an hour or so?"
"There's ho-homework," he stammered.
She nodded. "Good. Finish that off, then go be with Belldandy. You need each other, but Skuld needs her sister, too." She chuckled. "You'll have to take turns."
Peorth was close enough to hear the last few words. "Take turns at what?"
"Not what you're thinking, I'm sure," Urd teased her.
Instead of replying to the banter, she yawned. "I'm going back to bed. No sense adjusting to your schedule just for a day or two."
Urd nodded. "Right. I should have some preliminary results by the time you get up again."
They stepped into their respective rooms and closed the doors almost in unison.
Belldandy carried a stack of plates and bowls into the kitchen. "Thank you for helping me clean up."
"No problem," Skuld replied, not meeting her eyes.
"How are you feeling this morning?" she asked cautiously.
"Okay, I guess." she said sullenly.
This is not going well, Belldandy thought as she set a pot of leftovers in the refrigerator. The uncomfortable silence stretched on, and on, as they passed each other several times. She sighed. I'll have to take the first step.
She waited until her sister set one of the last dishes beside the sink. "Skuld?"
The girl turned and looked at her, with no expression at all.
Oh, this was definitely not going to be easy. "I'm sorry I said such harsh things to you last night. I shouldn't have been so, so…"
"Mean."
"Well…unkind, anyway. I should have found a better way to tell you."
"Tell me what? To let Morisato do pervy things to you, and not care?"
"Oh, Skuld…" Belldandy looked at her stubborn, resentful expression and sighed again. "When two people love each other, what they do together is not 'pervy' and it's nobody else's business."
Skuld's expression did not change, nor did she say anything.
"I know Mother has explained these things to you. Just like she explained them to me, a long time ago."
"Yeah." Her expression did change, now. It got worse. "Ewwwww."
Belldandy laughed, a little. "When you get a little older, you'll change your mind. Or, rather, you'll find that your mind has changed all on its own. You'll feel…differently."
Still that stubborn rejection, and again no reply.
"It will happen," she said conclusively. "It happened to Urd, and it happened to me. It has happened to most women, throughout all of Time. If it hadn't, none of us would be here. I'm sure Mother told you that!"
Now her expression did change, and she made an uncomfortable little noise. Belldandy could guess what she must be thinking about.
"I know you resent Keiichi. You've made that clear since the first time you saw us together. You resent his love for me, and my love for him, and that's not fair, to him, or to me."
She looked troubled, but still stubborn.
"Please, Skuld. Don't force me to choose between the man I love, and the sister I love. That would be more than I could bear."
Skuld looked up at her, shocked. No one had ever put the issue to her in those stark terms before. She shook her head, protesting, "No, that's not…" but she couldn't come up with anything more.
Belldandy returned for the last dishes on the table, letting her work through that herself. Both sisters were quiet for several minutes. Belldandy washed dishes while Skuld rinsed and set them to dry.
"Onee-chan, I didn't mean to…I…I only wanted…"
"You want it to be just you, and me, like when we were children," Belldandy finished for her. "Those were good times, weren't they? I have fond memories, as well." She turned more serious. "But we're not children any more. I've grown up, and you're growing up, too. No one can make time stand still, or turn back. We all move onward, and we all have to accept that. We can't live in the past, and I don't want to."
Several dishes later Skuld asked, half-resentful, half-fearful, "Do you love him more than me?"
"You're still trying to make me choose," Belldandy rebuked her gently. "It's not a matter of how much I love you. I love Keiichi in a different way, a way that doesn't affect how I love you. He accepts that. He's not taking me away from you, and he doesn't want to. He could be a true brother to you, if you'd give him a chance."
They had almost finished the dishes when Skuld said, "I'll think about it, Onee-chan. I'll think about everything you said."
"Good." Belldandy gave her sister a rather penetrating look. "You should never take any action without thinking about it."
After they finished cleaning up the kitchen, Skuld returned to her room. There was something she wanted to do. and she'd thought it over quite carefully. During breakfast, something Jadwel told her yesterday had come back to her. She might not remember everything about her latest invention, but she could still use a computer, and that love hotel must have security cameras in the lobby…
Belldandy knocked on the doorframe. "Keiichi?"
"Come in!" he answered instantly.
She opened the door to find him sitting in front of a desk loaded with books and papers, gazing up at her with a smile.
"Almost done."
She returned his smile. "When you're finished, would you like to—"
"Sure!"
"You didn't even hear what it was."
"It doesn't matter," he assured her. "Whatever you want, the answer is yes. Always."
"Oh, Keiichi." She stepped up behind him and squeezed his shoulders. "I think this…trouble, would be unbearable without you. I am truly thankful to have you in my life."
He craned his neck and looked up at her. "I'm thankful to have you in my life, too, Belldandy. I think I can face anything, if you're with me."
She squeezed again. "I feel the same. Can I help you face that homework?"
He chuckled. "Sure thing. Let me see, if clearance is zero-point-two millimeters…" His pencil scratched away for a few more minutes, he went back over the paper, making one last check, and closed his book. "There, all done." He stretched and flexed his fingers. "What have I agreed to, by the way?"
"Just a walk around the yard," she said placidly. "I think I need to see the sky, feel the sun and wind…"
He stood and turned to the door. "Sounds nice."
Belldandy took his arm and they walked out the back door. She allowed her feet to take her where they would, along the wall, around the pond, under the trees. She stopped in a secluded place behind the temple and had a sudden urge to sing. Keiichi understood not a word of it, but stood entranced as the sun seemed to shine brighter, the sky glow bluer, the grass turn greener, the birds twitter more cheerfully.
She let the last note fade away and turned to him, the most beautiful vision he had ever beheld. Their arms went around each other and her kiss filled him like her song. He never wanted it to end.
A twig snapped.
They both turned reluctantly, to see Lind glide around the temple corner, making her rounds. She dipped her head slightly, acknowledging their presence, and passed by. They suddenly noticed that they were standing in the middle of a large, waist-high patch of flowers which hadn't been there a few minutes ago. And why was Belldandy so certain Lind had stepped on that twig deliberately?
No matter. Their moment was ended. Keiichi offered his arm, Belldandy took it, and they waded out of the sweet-smelling flower patch. Neither of them wanted to think about where it had come from. They meandered around the temple grounds for a while longer and wound up sitting on the temple's front steps.
Urd found them there a few minutes later. "Could I get a blood sample from each of you?"
They looked at each other, then agreed. Keiichi held his arm out.
Urd smiled. "No, I only need a few drops. A finger stick will be enough."
He held his hand up. She poked his index finger with a tiny blade, held a small glass tube over the spot and squeezed out several drops of blood, which wicked up into the tube. She did the same with Belldandy, then smiled again at both of them.
"All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Keiichi shook his head. Belldandy asked, "What about Skuld? Have you seen her?"
Urd chuckled. "She's back to being Skuld. So busy with something on her computer she barely noticed."
Belldandy said, "Oh."
At the same time, Keiichi said, "That's good, isn't it?"
"Better, anyway. I practically had to drag her to breakfast." She asked, more seriously, "How are you two holding up?"
Belldandy sighed. "Everything feels so confused. I feel like, I don't know what's going on at all." She leaned against Keiichi. "What other troubles will we have, I wonder, before all this is over?"
Urd looked around nervously, with a sinking feeling. "Uhh, Bell…"
They watched as Lind and two other Valkyries took up positions beside the house, facing the outer wall, clearly preparing for something. Urd could feel their heightened state of alert.
"…I think we should go in the house. Looks like something's happening."
Keiichi sat on Belldandy's right, between her and whatever had the Valkyries' attention. He turned that way, looking for threats, keeping her behind him. "What is it?"
Urd didn't sense anything, but she trusted the Valkyries to know their business. Something was coming. Although it was unlikely to pose any physical danger, the risk that her sister and the mortal would see things they couldn't accept was quite high.
"I don't know," she admitted. "But they're getting ready for an attack. No sense sitting out here, being targets."
That convinced Keiichi. He stood up, tugging on Belldandy's hand. "I think she's right. Let's get inside, and let the soldiers deal with…whatever it is."
She was still reluctant, but she couldn't deny both her sister and her boyfriend. She stood up, and they all headed for the house. Belldandy tried to get ahead of Keiichi, but he stubbornly stayed between her and the Valkyries, clearly more concerned with her safety than his own. Urd smiled to herself. Even in her current condition, Belldandy was far more capable of protecting Keiichi than the reverse, but she couldn't fault his intentions.
"I think you should both stay in Keiichi's room until this is over," she advised them. "It's the farthest one from where this is going down. I have to get back to work."
She watched until they shut Keiichi's door, then shut her own, sat at the workbench, and laid two thin glass tubes filled with blood beside a third one. They looked like glass tubes, anyway.
She had spent more than an hour creating these, plus a spare. Disguised as simple Midgard glass, the intricate spell-powered devices were already running a sophisticated magical analysis on the blood of two Goddesses and a mortal, and the altered potion in each. She linked them to her best approximation of an antidote formula, and waited for the results.
She considered the situation for a few more seconds, then cast a strong shield spell around the house, careful not to interfere with the Valkyries. Probably a waste of effort, but she wanted to keep her sisters and Keiichi safe. A little extra insurance couldn't hurt.
Gunnr felt one of their tripwire spells activate. She pulled out her communicator and keyed the squad channel. "Alert, alert, we've got incoming. Demonic, Level Seven, vector Epsilon-Five, ETA two minutes."
Level Seven made it a mid-grade Demon First Class, a moderate threat, but they were four Valkyries, with a prepared defense, and now they knew it was coming. They moved with practiced precision, and not a word. Gunnr faced the approaching demon, Lind and Kara took flanking positions, while Jadwel watched the rest of the perimeter for other threats. This could be a diversion. They all blanked out their celestial energy signatures as far as they could, concealing their full power. The demon might underestimate them.
Gunnr felt well capable of handling this demon on her own; she was a strong Level Seven herself, and a long-time veteran. Kara and Jadwel were both Level Fives, both good fighters. Lind was a Level Eight, and fanatical about her training and practice. She would move in if the demon gave Gunnr any great difficulty.
On Gunnr's left, Lind considered their other assets. Peorth was a Level Seven, but mostly an administrator, not trained or accustomed to combat. Belldandy…if she were not incapacitated by that demonic potion, she'd be a powerful Level Eight, nearly a Level Nine, and she had a Valkyrie license. She could kick this demon's ass in a straight-up fight.
Skuld had neglected her magic training, placing her at no more than Level Two, but she was a rarity — a true Technomancer. She infused her technological creations with more magic than she could wield directly. If she got serious about developing her magic, she would rival the ancient Technomancers who'd created Mjollnir, Gungnir, Yggdrasil's core systems, the Gates, the Valkyries' weapons, and the entire race of angels. Starting with the modern age's more advanced technology…there was no telling what she could achieve.
Urd was a real wild card. The Aesir heritage of her father, and her grandfather Wotan, combined with Hild's impossible power, whatever its unknown source, gave her unimaginable potential. There had been considerable opposition to allowing her even to take the Goddess First Class tests, and great relief when she had forfeited half-way through. If she got into this fight, they'd be very concerned about collateral damage, and drawing the attention of mortals. Best she go back to her room and concentrate on brewing her potions.
To her relief, the three got up and retreated to the house, and then she felt someone put up a shield. Urd, for certain. She nodded approval; a little extra protection around the people they guarded was a wise precaution. She refocused her attention on the perimeter, and they prepared to receive their uninvited visitor.