Disclaimer and foreword: AMG doesn't belong to me. "Think of Me" is by Andrew Lloyd Weber. More thanks to WillZ and my smoking hot wife, Sethra, for prereading this.
A note on the Division: Some readers have asked about how the Combat Division is arranged and what the differences are between valkyries and other gods. Here's the basic gist of how I'm setting it up. (Others, I'm sure, have their own ideas and this is not canon.) The Division is broken up into four regiments, The Spartans, The Valkyries, The Avenging Angels (Double-As) and the Gatekeepers. If someone is referred to as a Valkyrie, that means they belong to that particular regiment. When referred to as a valkyrie, small "v," that says that they are simply a female warrior goddess. Yazlyn is a valkyrie who is assigned to the Gatekeeper regiment, and as a male warrior god, Gwydion was an avenging angel also assigned to the Gatekeepers.
Blessings: Broken Bow
Chapter 6
A Summer Midnight
"At least the AC works in this one," Skuld sighed as she grabbed a seat on the nearly empty train car heading back to Nekomi. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she took a breath and relaxed. Walking from auto parts store to auto parts store wasn't exactly her idea of a fun morning, but it got them out of the house.
Keiichi set down several plastic bags as the doors closed and the train started to move. Taking a seat next to Belldandy, he smiled. "At least we got them all. Just a couple hours of installing the new parts and no more walking to school for us!"
"I kind of liked walking to school," Belldandy confessed. "Especially now that it's getting warmer."
"In another month it'll be much hotter," Keiichi reminded her. "You'll be glad to have the Beemer up and running again once the thermostat starts breaking into the nineties."
Skuld heard a short intake of breath from beside her as the train lurched. Standing next to her, Gwydion winced and held the bar tightly.
"Sensei, please sit down," she begged. "There's plenty of room."
The teacher relented and sat next to his student. His face was drawn and gaunt, and dark circles ringed his eyes. "Thank you," he breathed.
Skuld chewed the inside of her cheek, wondering if her teacher was sick or just having a rough day. The weatherman had predicted rain this evening, a summer rain storm. She assumed that must be it.
Yazlyn took his place at the bar as Urd sat at the other end of the car. Skuld turned her attention back to Keiichi, intent on asking a question about the repairs, but found it useless. The two of them were busy staring at one another again.
"How do they always do that?" she asked no one in particular.
To her surprise, it was Yazlyn who answered her. Leaning close, the valkyrie whispered to her. "You'll understand when it happens to you," she told the younger goddess. "You can see a great many things in a lover's eyes - the future, the past, children not yet born. If you're not careful, you can lose yourself in them."
Skuld blinked in surprise. She had never heard the hard-core soldier say anything like that before. "You must feel that way about your boyfriend," she said.
Yazlyn looked down at her in surprise before offering a smile flavored with sadness. "No. Not for a long time."
Urd heard the valkyrie's comments and suddenly blinked, realizing her eyes had been resting on her sister's teacher sitting across from her. She quickly turned her head and looked out the window, watching Chiiba City race by.
She had made a mistake the week before, seeking comfort from Gwydion after Troubadour had left following his betrayal. The goddess had cried into the teacher's robes, hugging him tightly and taking comfort from him for a full five minutes before she remembered his curse and realized what she must be doing to him. It took him several moments to recover before he could even stand again, but he hadn't complained.
It only made her feel worse. She could have cured him. It was right there in her mother's hands for the taking, and instead she chose to save the god who had betrayed her. She didn't even have the courage or the decency to tell him what she had done.
So wrapped up in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the teacher's reflection in the glass gazing back at her.
888
"Don't let him through! Don't let him through!" the voice crackled from the blue stone sitting on the desk before her. Her eyes watched the polished piece of marble, seeing the faces behind each voice as it rang out through the room.
"Two-Five! Two-Five! Check left!"
"Get a damn medic in here!"
A high pitched humming noise, indicative of a soul saber, emerged from the stone, followed by several screams.
"GET THAT SON OF A BITCH!"
The retort of several power blasts exploded throughout the room.
"He's down! He's down! Arc Light this is Kilo One-One! Repeat Tango is down! Need immediate extraction for three critical casualties!"
The man at the other end of the table tapped the stone, and the recording stopped. The god, arrayed in silver robes, looked up at her. "They knew."
Before Lind could reply, the goddess standing to her left erupted, her contralto voice laced with malice within her accent. "Of course they bloody knew!" Shasiel said angrily. "It's the third Division operation to be compromised! Their recruiting standards have become so lax over the last three centuries that the demons could have infiltrated them at every level!" The dark-skinned woman trained her violet eyes on Lind. "How many sides are you fighting on, mate?!"
Lind ignored the Grigori chief and turned her gaze to the other god. "The mission was accomplished despite the breach of operational security. Until we know who or what these things are, we have to assume they've made extensive preparations before moving. They could be anyone."
"Michael," Shasiel interrupted, waiting for the archangel to recognize her before continuing. "The Division is out of its league." Lind visibly bristled at this. "I must once again insist that you implement Warlock Green under Grigori administration."
Michael's gaze turned angry. "I will not sanction an action where the best possible outcome is a civil war!"
"Respectfully," the Grigori began again, "The Division..."
"The Combat Division was conceived to fight a demonic war outside Heaven's gates!" Lind suddenly interrupted, tiring of hearing her unit demeaned. "Not to fight our own people hiding in the shadows! That's why we have Grigori! Instead of finding ways to marginalize the Division, perhaps you should work on finding the common threads to the insurrection so we can stamp it out for good!"
"The Division is compromised!" Shasiel shot back. "I submit that every valkyrie and avenging angel be screened by my Grigori before..."
"Screened for what?!" Lind shot back in fury. "You have no idea what this is or how to detect it!"
"Loyalty to Heaven can be determined by an interrogation..."
"I will not submit one member of my Division to your 'interrogators' without a damn good reason!"
"Enough!" Michael roared, ending the argument. The two goddesses turned back to him. "I need to know who these people are, what binds them together, what their goal is. I can't do that with the two of you squabbling." He sat down in his throne. "Now, here is what is going to happen. The two of you are going to start working together, and when you come back here, you're not going to tell me what they're going to do to us, you're going to tell me what we're going to do to them! Understand?"
The two women nodded, and the archangel dismissed them. Shasiel stormed out, collecting her aide as she went. Lind watched her go.
"Lind," Michael said quietly. "We're not going to be able to hide this forever. I want these... whoever they are... destroyed. You hunt them down, and you kill them."
"Does that come from The Almighty?" Lind asked, surprised by the order.
"The Almighty has chosen to not involve himself in this," Michael told her, his own disbelief evident on his face. "I'm telling you, on my authority, that the gloves are coming off."
"The gentlemen's war is over."
888
Skuld quietly turned the corner and raised the MB-42 assault rifle to a firing position. Standing about twenty meters away, the banana-headed creature looked from side to side, but took no notice of her.
Grinning, the goddess sighted carefully and...
KA-BAM!
The creature fell to the ground, the armor piercing round having gone straight through its head.
Skuld blinked and growled.
"Hey!" she cried. "That was my kill!"
Sitting cross-legged on the floor next to her, Belldandy smiled. "I didn't see your name on it!"
Skuld lifted her controller and turned back to the split-screen display on the TV, Keiichi's game console humming uncertainly on the floor next to it.
"Did I win?" Belldandy asked innocently. Skuld growled again. "I shot the alien thing, right? That means I win, right?"
"This sucks! You've gotten the sniper rifle every single time!"
Belldandy smiled beautifully, her expression a canvas holding a painting that just screamed, "Yep!"
"Ugh," Skuld remarked, turning her attention back to the screen. Before they could play another round, however, Urd entered the room.
"Hey," she said uneasily. "Um... Belldandy, can I talk to you?"
"Of course," the goddess replied, rising from the floor.
Belldandy led her down the hall, pausing briefly at Urd's door, but the elder goddess stopped her.
"No," she said. "I don't feel safe talking in there."
Belldandy was puzzled, but didn't say anything, instead leading her sister to the room she shared with Keiichi. Once they were both inside, the middle Norn shut the door and trailed her finger along the door frame, putting a locking ward on it and erected a soundproof bubble around them.
"Neesan, are you all right?" Belldandy asked in frank concern.
Urd blinked at her. "I... Come on! I don't look that messed up, do I?!"
Belldandy offered her a sympathetic look. "You do look extremely troubled."
The elder sister sighed and sat down. "I'm in trouble, Belldandy."
888
"Come in!"
Skuld slid the door open and found her teacher writing in a small journal. Looking up, he nodded. "Skuld, sit down. What can I do for you?"
The young goddess took the seat that Urd usually occupied. "Sensei, something's bothering me."
"Go on."
"Well... Last week, when Troubadour was here, I did something I don't think I should have been able to do..."
"Such as?"
"Well, the golden dodo whatever-it-is swallowed Oneesama's engagement ring, and I was helping her get it out, and I was able to form a link with it and order it to throw up."
Gwydion thought on this for a moment. "And this troubles you?"
"Well, it's that Oneesama said she wasn't able to," Skuld explained. "She said the nightingale's mind was so different, that it was such an old deity that she couldn't do it. What do you think?"
The teacher considered her for a moment, then asked, "You've created an artificial intelligence here, didn't you?"
"You mean Banpei kun?" Skuld asked. "Yeah, not long after I got here. But that was an accident. His program evolved on its own."
"Did it?" he asked. He leaned forward. "Or did you give it something?"
"What do you mean?" Skuld asked.
"I mean if you really did create an evolving intelligence, really did link with an ancient deity, than this could be indicative of a wonderful gift, Skuld," he told her. "We will test this idea and we'll find out for sure. Okay?"
She nodded. "Thank you, Sensei."
888
Urd had to admit she felt better. She told Belldandy about Troubadour, her meeting with Hild, the Grigori and the plum tree spirit's manipulation of her. Her gaze stayed rooted to the floor as she let the poisoned air out of the balloon that was her last week. She didn't want to see pity in Belldandy's eyes. She knew she had to let it out, and that pity would be the price. Finally, when she was ready to bear it, she looked up at her sister.
But there was no pity.
A dark aura seemed to radiate from the middle Norn, her expression one of beautiful rage. Her hands were clenched at her side.
"Um... Belldandy?" Urd asked cautiously.
Belldandy shook in barely contained anger. Quietly, she began to whisper just loud enough for Urd to hear. "I will slaughter them like a wolf among lambs," she breathed.
"Woah! Hold on there, Tamberlain!"
"For someone to use another's love like that is... is so reprehensible that..." Belldandy shook her head as if trying to expel the very idea from her head. "... that... that I can't even find the proper words for it!"
Urd stood up and took her sister's arms in her hands. "Belldandy, I'm not looking for an avenger! I just..." She sighed. "I just needed to talk to someone."
The aura began to dissipate, and the anger was replaced by the pity Urd had been dreading. Without a word, Belldandy hugged her.
"It'll be okay, Neesan."
Urd sighed again and sat down. "And now I have a new problem."
Belldandy sat down across from her. "What do you mean?"
"I told you that story so I could tell you this one," Urd explained. She sighed. "Okay, there's no good way to say this. There's a slight, minuscule chance that I... have feelings for Gwydion."
"Oh, Neesan," Belldandy said sympathetically. "Of course you do."
Urd's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "I see. You've seen it all along, have you?"
Belldandy smiled and squeezed her hand. "I think everyone's seen it but the two of you."
Urd's head flopped forward in exasperation. "Everyone, huh?"
"Well, your angels did make a scene once or twice while the two of you weren't looking," Belldandy told her.
The elder goddess rubbed her temples. "Once or twice, huh?"
Belldandy smiled softly. "Hai... Well... Keiichi saw them a couple of weeks ago..."
"Yeah, I heard about that..."
"... and then Gwydion's angel tried to harm Troubadour..."
Urd blinked, then smiled a bit. "Did he?"
Her smile lost some of its shine as Belldandy continued.
"Then when you were napping, I saw World of Elegance cutting little hearts out of construction paper..." Urd rubbed her temples again. "But the point is it doesn't matter because now you know."
"I don't know what to do," Urd told her.
"Of course you do," Belldandy told her. "You're a goddess of love."
"I'm having trust issues, Belldandy," Urd told her. "How do I know he..." She trailed off. "First there was Troubadour, then Corus, then Troubadour again..."
"Troubadour will burn in Hell for all eternity for what he's done to you!" Belldandy snapped in an uncharacteristic moment of rage. "And Corus was a demon, and an unstable one at that." She squeezed her sister's hand again. "Trust requires faith, not only in the other person, but in yourself."
"Maybe that's the problem," Urd whispered. "Maybe I've stopped trusting myself."
At Belldandy's questioning look, she continued.
"When you love someone, you give them a great deal of power," Urd explained. "I don't think I can trust anyone with that power right now, not even myself."
The middle Norn smiled softly. "Neesan, you are capable of so much love. It would be a shame not to give it to someone worthy of you."
"And you think Gwydion is worthy?" Urd asked seriously.
"I think you should judge a person by their own actions, not the actions of the people who have come before."
Urd didn't reply.
Belldandy smiled. "In the end, love decides for us, Neesan. Your decision is what to do about it."
888
It wasn't fifteen minutes after letting her heart bleed in front of her sister, that Gwydion and Skuld found her in the hallway.
"Ah, Urd!" he said tiredly. "I was wondering if you would help us."
She took a breath as conflicted feelings roiled within her - her now undeniable attraction fighting against her guilt. She forced a smile and nodded.
"What can I do?" she asked.
"We're conducting an experiment," he told her. "I want Skuld to give mental magic a try."
"That's pretty advanced, isn't it?" Urd asked.
Skuld seemed irritated at the insinuation that she wasn't ready for anything.
"She's quite right, Skuld," Gwydion told her, sensing her anger. "What we are about to attempt usually isn't done for at least two more years."
The young goddess nodded. "Okay. So what do I do?"
"I would like Urd to act as the subject," Gwydion told her as he led them both to the living room. "Normally, you wouldn't be able to enter the mind of another goddess. They have to either let you enter or you have to so overpower them that the effort would do them and you considerable harm. Urd is going to let you in. I'd ask Keiichi, except mortal minds are much more frail. Understand?"
Skuld nodded as they sat down.
"Now, don't be disappointed if this doesn't work," he warned. "This is very advanced material."
She nodded again.
"Urd, are you ready?"
The older goddess took a breath and closed her eyes. "Ready."
His voice lowered, becoming a soothing stream of sound rather scientific words. "Now, Skuld, focus on your sister and connect with her like you would any other creature or object."
Urd could feel her sister's will touch her mind and was surprised at how quickly it was happening.
"Do you feel it?" Gwydion asked.
"Yes, Sensei," Skuld replied. "What do I do now?"
Gwydion wasn't sure. "Have her do something... Pick up the remote... something simple like that..."
"There's no remote..."
"Just do something, Skuld," Gwydion growled.
"Hai," she replied. Taking a breath, she gave Urd's mind an order.
The older goddess' eyes snapped open, and her mouth began to move.
"Think of me... Think of me fondly... when we've said goodbye! Remember me... once in a while - please promise me you'll try! When you find... that once again... you long to take your heart back and be free... If you ever find a moment... spare a thought for me!"
Gwydion looked on in shock as Urd sang. Finally, Urd shook her head and fell back on her hands. "Woah!" she cried.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Skuld cried. "It was the first thing that popped into my head! Honest!"
"Skuld," Gwydion breathed. "That's extraordinary."
"What? Embarrassing Urd? I do that every day!"
"How could she do that?" Urd asked in astonishment. "With virtually no training at all?" She looked to Gwydion for some sort of answer.
The instructor nodded. "Skuld, you have an astonishing gift," he told her. "Most gods and goddesses can manipulate thoughts, but it takes a great deal of training and concentration. This explains why you were able to command the nightingale, and I think it might explain how Banpei kun's AI evolved so swiftly and so completely."
"It does?" Skuld asked.
"Hold on a second, Gwydion," Urd interrupted. "You're not going where I think you are..."
"What do you mean?" Skuld asked.
"Skuld, I think you unconsciously used this power with Banpei kun, in essence granting him intelligence."
"Meaning...?"
"He means, Skuld, that you used your mind to create life," Urd interjected.
"And the only god who can do that is The Almighty."
888
Keiichi opened the throttle all the way up and laughed in delight as the Beemer shot forward, accelerating down the road twice as fast as it used to. He had been neglecting his bike over the past year, putting the money he normally would have into other, "more important," things. Finally forced to replace parts by the golden nightingale, he went all out. He thought about sending Troubadour a thank you note since his bike was performing better than it had in years.
As he thought this, a drop of water hit the center of his visor. Glancing up, he was hit by a few more. It turned out the Nekomi Channel 47 weatherman wasn't wrong after all.
The rain intensified as he hung a right and started back for the temple.
At least it's not cold, he thought. True enough, the rain was warm, even as the sun was starting to go down.
By the time he pulled into the overhang at the temple, the storm was in full swing, dumping a steady bucket of rain on the temple. A bit of thunder rumbled overhead, but there was no lightning.
As he dismounted and prepared to run inside, Keiichi paused, hearing something to his right, away from the temple residence. Pulling his hood up, he started toward the sound, entering the stand of trees that stood off near the temple.
The sound became clearer as he got closer to the source. He smiled, kicking himself for not realizing what it was sooner. In a small, grassy clearing, his fiancé stood before a large stump, her head tilted up as she sang. Green buds emerged from cracks in the stump, growing at the sound of the goddess' voice.
He stood away, not wanting to interrupt but transfixed by her voice. Instead, he gazed at her, wondering for the millionth time what he had done to deserve a woman like that. Her hair was damp and her wet dress clung to her body, revealing everything while showing nothing.
She raised her arms as her song ended, then paused briefly before turning to him as is she had always known he was there. The goddess smiled.
"Welcome home, Keiichi san," she greeted."Isn't it wonderful? A warm, cleansing rain is just what this city needed."
Instead of the usual "tadaima," he said something else. "How do you do that?" he asked her.
"Eh?" she asked, confused by the question.
He went on. "You're dripping wet, standing in the rain... and you're still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." It was no empty compliment. The amazement was evident in his voice.
The blush suffused her neck and cheeks. "Keiichi san," she said, embarrassed by the compliment. She stepped toward him and leaned forward. "That's sweet of you to say." She brushed her lips against his, intent on giving him a quick peck, but his lips caught hers and that quick peck became something much more passionate.
She closed her eyes and reveled in the act, the sound of the rain beating a steady tattoo in the background. Her hands rose and circled him, and somewhere inside her, a clock struck midnight.
"Keiichi... it's time," she breathed as their lips parted.
"Time?" he asked quietly.
"Hai," she replied, holding him tighter and kissing him again.
Keiichi was by no means a swift man in many respects, but this one didn't take much more than the sense The Almighty gave a mule, especially as he felt his fiance's hands move under his jacket.
He pulled his head away suddenly. "Um... Here? Now?"
"Hai!" she responded, moving toward him again.
"In the rain?"
"Hai!"
Her fingers brushed through his wet hair as she kissed him again.
"Um... Wouldn't it be better if we went back to our room?" he asked. "I mean..."
She pulled her head away and looked into his eyes with a matter-of-fact look on her face. "Keiichi, our house is full of people and our walls are made of paper."
He paused as he thought on this. "Good point," he conceded, then kissed her fiercely. His fiancé whimpered softly, and her knees went weak as his fingers found the sensitive spot between her shoulder blades.
Collapsing against him, they both fell into the wet grass under the trees.
888
Urd yawned as she turned the page on her latest NewType magazine. The article on Winter Storm wasn't nearly as in depth as she had hoped. It was mostly the director celebrating his own ego.
She looked up and checked the clock on the wall. It was nearly seven and Keiichi wasn't back yet. Belldandy, she knew, was singing to the trees again. She loved this kind of weather.
Turning another page, she suddenly yelped and shot to her feet!
Down the hall, she heard another surprised cry and a crash that could only be Skuld falling out of a chair in her lab. Urd quickly reopened the magazine and tried to look nonchalant as the youngest goddess raced into the room.
"Did you feel that?!" Skuld cried.
"Feel what?" Urd replied, turning the page again without reading anything.
"That!" Skuld repeated, failing to be any more specific.
Urd arched an eyebrow.
"I mean..." Skuld paused, trying to put it into words. "It was like... It was like just suddenly being really really happy!"
"And that bothers you?" Urd asked skeptically.
"Well... No, but... It's just weird!"
"So... You want something to make you depressed?" Urd asked with an amused smile. "I have potions for that."
Skuld started backing away. "No... No, that's okay! I'm... just going to go back to my lab now."
The younger sister darted away before Urd could make good on her threat. Once she was gone, the elder Norn sat down and sighed, smiling warmly. She had been around the block enough to know what that feeling was. Somewhere, Belldandy was feeling so much joy, it had backflowed through the link she shares with her sisters.
"Keiichi, you sly dog," she said quietly.
The euphoric feeling would last for a little while, so she decided to take a bottle of wine into the bath and soak for a bit.
Finding a bottle in the kitchen, she hummed to herself as she started down the hall toward the bath. A sound stopped her just as she was passing Gwydion's room.
Turning to the door, she heard it again through the thin wall, an unmistakeable gasp of pain. With the rain falling outside, she knew he would probably be more than a little sloshed by now. She decided to check on him real quick before taking her bath.
She knocked twice and opened the door, not expecting an answer. To her surprise, she found Gwydion sitting at his desk, resting his head on the wooden desktop. He was breathing hard. His eyes found her and he struggled to sit up.
"What is it?" he asked.
Urd looked at him in surprise. "I thought you'd be passed out by now," she quipped. Looking around, however, she failed to find a bottle anywhere nearby. Her expression turned to one of concern. "Are you out?" she asked, stepping forward and resting the bottle of wine on the desk.
"No," he said quietly, shaking his head. "I don't want it. I gave it up."
The statement floored the goddess. "Gwydion, have you seen yourself?" she asked. "You're the only man in the world with a good reason to drink. Come on," she said, offering the wine to him again.
"I said no, dammit!" he growled, looking up at her. His face softened a moment later. "They're after my student," he told her quietly. "They could come back any time, and when they do, I will not be drenched beyond the ability to protect her."
"Yeah, because you're so much more capable like this, right?" she asked, regretting it the second she said it. She was spared having to apologize or justify the remark as he didn't answer.
The silence stretched for several moments. "Don't worry about me," he finally told her. "I'll be fine."
She bit her lip and sat down next to him. "Gwydion... Did the healers in Heaven tell you that... well.. That an heir of Hild could relieve the curse?"
The goddess expected shock or surprise. Instead, he didn't even look up. "Yes," he told her. "The curse is unique to her vibrations, or some other such nonsense. That's why they can't heal it."
Urd blinked, shocked into silence. "Why didn't you say something?" she asked.
He raised his head, his eyes meeting her own. "Because it's my curse," he told her. "My punishment. I have no right to ask anyone to share in it."
"Is that the price?" Urd asked. "I would have to take on the pain?"
"They don't know," he said in exasperation. "It could have any of a hundred side effects. No one knows for sure except Hild."
She swallowed and mentally steeled herself. "I'm going to try," she told him.
"You'll do no such thing," he retorted.
"Oh yeah?" she asked. "Stop me."
He regarded her for several moments. "It's not your burden to bear," he tried weakly.
She could see the conflict in his eyes, his desperate desire to be rid of the curse, if only for a few seconds, fighting with his desire to protect others from its power.
"We're not going to know if this is even possible if we don't try," she told him. "Now relax. I've never tried anything like this before."
Beaten, he nodded and sat back in his chair. Leaning forward, she unfastened the buttons on his tunic and pushed the shirt back over his shoulders, wincing at the sight that met her. The entire left side of his chest was crisscrossed with angry, red scars. An indentation she could only describe as a crater two inches across marred his upper torso where a demonic energy blast had torn through him.
She swallowed, and he saw the look on her face.
"Don't worry, I wasn't pretty to start with," he said painfully.
Tentatively, afraid of hurting him further, she reached out and gently rested her hands on his chest. The flesh was hot to the touch, almost feverish. Closing her eyes, she stretched out with her will and probed the area. She gasped at what she felt.
Fire. He was on fire. At least that's what his body was telling him. She could see the red wisps of the curse rising from his body, burning his body and soul.
She took a breath and bent her will to the fire, touching it with the tendrils of her soul. The fire lost some of its rage and began to dissipate slowly until finally only the smouldering embers remained.
It took much longer than she thought, and she had to concentrate her power evenly over the effected areas lest a spot she had just smothered reignite. After several minutes, however, she was done.
She leaned back in her chair and took several deep breaths, waiting for the price of meddling in her mother's curse to manifest. To her surprise, however, she felt nothing. No pain, no discomfort.
Her eyes opened and found a shocked god sitting across from her. Gwydion touched his chest, looking down at himself in surprise.
"It's gone," he whispered. "It's... it's gone." He couldn't believe the words he was speaking. He shot to his feet, but his leg gave out under him, and he collapsed back into the chair. "Well... except for the leg," he conceded.
Urd smiled from her chair.
He laughed and covered his mouth with his hand, tears starting to form in his eyes. She liked the sound, having never heard him laugh beyond a rough bark of derision before.
The god looked up at her. "Are you okay?" he asked quickly.
She smiled again. "I'm fine." Her expression turned to concern. "It's only temporary," she told him. "I don't know how long it will last..."
"It doesn't matter," he told her, smiling and trying to choke back tears. He leaned forward and put his hands on her shoulders. "You've given me the first moments of true peace I've known in a very long time. How... how do I ever repay you for that?"
She was silent as she stared into his eyes. Maybe it was the euphoria lingering from her sister's joy or the happiness of seeing his curse relent its assault on his spirit. Looking back, she would never really know for sure. All she knew was one moment she was looking at him and the next she had planted her lips firmly on his.
Gwydion gave a muffled breath in surprise as the goddess put everything she had into that kiss, letting the feelings she had stamped down the last several months explode freely within her.
He tried to stand, but she wouldn't let go and the two fell back onto the floor. Finally, she released him, and he looked up at her as she unbuttoned her blouse.
"Urd," he said quietly. "You've been through a lot the last few weeks, maybe..."
"Gwydion," she said, staring down at him in mild annoyance. "Would you just shut up and make love to me?"
He looked up at her as his own unrequited feelings for her came rushing to the fore. Leaning up, he kissed her softly and wrapped his arms around her. She felt his fingers massage her back between her shoulder blades and sighed.
"See?" she asked. "Was that so hard?"
888
Keiichi woke to the sound of singing and the feeling of raindrops on his head. Carefully tilting his head to the left, he found Belldandy lying next to him, whispering a song into his ear. He closed his eyes and let the song roll through him, a relaxing, soothing melody.
He felt the goddess' foot rub against his leg and her breath in his ear. He was exhausted. The college student didn't know if it was because Belldandy was a goddess or he was just out of shape, but he felt like he had just run a marathon... Granted, an incredibly awesome marathon, but still an intense experience.
She must have felt him stir because the melody stopped and her breath was in his ear again. "More?" she asked.
"I'm going to need vitamins," he breathed. "Epinephrine... something..."
"Then... I was okay?" she asked, her voice uncertain.
The question threw him for a moment. "Okay?" he asked. "I'm about dead..."
"Gomen," she whispered. "I'll try harder next ti..."
"What? No!" he whispered back, taking her hand and putting it on his chest. She felt his heart racing beneath his ribs. "You were... Well... I mean, just feel what you did to me."
Giggling in relief, she leaned in and kissed him. As they parted, Keiichi cleared his throat.
"Um... Was I... you know..."
"You made my heart sing, my Keiichi," she whispered, caressing his face. Before she could say more, her body suddenly went stiff and she gasped quietly.
"Belldandy? Are you okay?"
She sighed and smiled knowingly. "Hai. I think my sister may have just made an important decision, that's all."
Puzzled, Keiichi didn't reply.
888
"Something about my wings you find fascinating?"
His eyes caught hers as he ran his fingers over her black left wing. The war god hadn't noticed she was awake, but now she was looking at him through hooded eyes.
"I've never seen black wings on someone who wasn't trying to kill me," he shared quietly. "I didn't expect them to be so... soft."
She smiled and stretched on the futon, readjusting her body so her wings could stretch out more comfortably. Gwydion saw the wing move away from him as she sat up and turned to him, leaning down to kiss him.
"How long had it been?" she asked in amusement.
Not really wanting to answer, Gwydion arched an eyebrow. "Am I that out of practice?"
"Mmm, let's just say the enthusiasm was appreciated," she said. "How do you feel?"
"I feel wonderful," he told her, wrapping his arm around her. "You?"
Her lip quirked up in a half smile as she sat up again. "I think I know what the price was," she told him. At his questioning look, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
Nothing.
"Your powers?" he asked astonished.
She shrugged. "I'm hoping it's only temporary," she told him, running a hand over his chest. "If not, I'm really screwed."
"We shouldn't have done this," he said.
"Don't you dare," she warned him. "It's temporary... and I needed to touch you." She looked down at him and smiled evilly. "And I didn't hear any complaints earlier. Don't you see? I finally got to grant your wish."
He smiled back. "So where does this leave us?"
"I guess that depends on you," she said, trying to hide uncertainty under nonchalance.
The instructor cocked his head. "I don't go halfway," he told her. "Either we're lovers or we're not. I don't do 'friends with benefits.'"
"Are you implying I do?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.
"I'm telling you that I'm taking this seriously," he assured her. He reached up and caressed her cheek. She took his hand and pressed her face against it, relishing the touch.
"What time is it?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Almost seven a.m.," he told her, rising from the futon. Urd gave his body a long look.
"Where are you going?"
"I want to take a walk," he told her as he dressed. "Will you come with me?"
She smiled up at him. "I think I'd like that." The goddess rose to her feet, 'accidentally' offering him a long look at her lithe form, and folded her wings behind her. "Maybe Belldandy is making..." Before she could finish, she felt a wave of power and awareness rush into her body. She turned to him quickly. "Gwydion!"
The warning was a moment too late. He was already screaming and writhing on the floor as the curse reasserted itself at full force. Black spots exploded in front of his eyes as fire roared throughout his body. His head felt like it was being struck with a warhammer.
"WHERE IS IT!?" he heard in his mind. He wasn't sure if his eyes were opened or closed, but suddenly he was somewhere else, somewhere he knew.
Hild stood over him. "I know you have one in the Roundtable! Where is it?!" She raised her hand and lightning shot up and down his body. "Enough!" she screamed, turning to someone he couldn't see. "Cut his wings off!"
He didn't reply, but Hild must have seen something in his face because her expression became one of amusement. "Oh? You object to losing your wings?" Her face turned wrathful again. "Then tell me what I want to know and perhaps you'll keep them awhile longer!" She knelt down and grabbed him bodily by the front of his tunic. "Where is the Combat Division base in the Roundtable!?" She struck him across the face. "WHERE?!"
"Gwydion! Gwydion! Can you hear me?!"
His eyes opened, and he gulped lungfuls of air. Urd's worried face looked back at him, and he struggled in her arms to get away, mistaking her for Hild.
"Gwydion! It's okay! It's me!" she told him, stroking his face with her fingers. "It's okay."
The teacher's breathing started to slow as his mind adjusted to the pain again. It was awful, worse than just enduring it, he now had to live with the fresh reminder of what it felt like to be without pain. He choked back a sob and started to climb to his feet. Urd moved to help him, taking his left arm, but that only inflamed the curse. At his painful cry, she stepped back, allowing him to work through it on his own as she watched in impotent concern.
He rested against the dresser. "Well," he gasped out. "I guess now we know how long 'temporary' is."
She nodded sadly. For all the power it took to lift the curse, Gwydion had only been pain free for about twelve hours.
"I'll heal you again," she said, stepping toward him.
"No," he said, raising a hand to stop her. "We still don't understand how it works. Let's just... take it slow for now."
She nodded. "Where were you?" she asked quietly.
He was still breathing deeply, recovering. "What?"
"You were somewhere else, Gwydion," she told him. "You kept crying, 'I don't know! I don't know!'"
He concentrated, trying to remember what he saw. "Hild was... questioning... me," he said. Urd tensed at the statement, having nearly seen one of her interrogations before her eyes. "She was asking something about..." He closed his eyes and rested his head in his hand. "I don't know."
She stepped forward again and very carefully wrapped her arms around his neck, putting great effort into not touching the parts of his body affected by the curse.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I thought it would be longer."
He mustered a smile from somewhere. "I had twelve hours of peace and I was able to spend it with you," he told her. "It could have been one hour, and I would have been happy."
She gave him a gentle kiss. "Still want to take that walk?"
"Yeah," he told her. "Yeah, I do."