Disclaimer: I don't own AMG. "First End" was written by Yumi Touma.
Second Dawn
Chapter 7
Second End
Belldandy closed her eyes and just held him. There were going to be challenges ahead for them, and that was fine. She would deal with them later. Right now, she just wanted to hold him, feel his chest rise and fall with each breath, the warmth in his touch. She had been so sure she would never feel it again, and now that it was here, she delighted in its return.
Her eyes opened as she felt him slump against her and gravity's pull started to drag him to the floor.
"Keiichi san?" she whispered in alarm.
She knelt with him, supporting him as he dropped to his knees. He swallowed and looked up at her.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "It's... It's been a long night..."
"Hai," she agreed, realizing he had been going through the painful process of remembering his past life for several hours unlike her almost pleasant few minutes. "You should rest."
"I don't want to," he said weakly, not even able to lift his head to face her anymore. "How do I know I'll wake up with my memories? I can't forget you again."
"You won't," she whispered with a smile. She put his arm over her shoulder and guided him to Oracle's bed. Slowly helping him into it, she tucked him in and pulled up a chair so she could sit with him.
He tried keeping his eyes open, but his head hurt and his body was weak from the mental pummeling it had taken all night. Exhaustion dragged him kicking and screaming into sleep as Belldandy watched over him.
She watched him sleep for several minutes, taking careful note of his face. Yes, it was the face she remembered, the true face of the young, upstart mortal who had dared wish the unthinkable and changed her life forever. Unable to stand it a moment longer, she rose from her chair and climbed onto the bed next to him, wrapping her arms around him and spooning in behind the boy.
The Norn felt a familiar twinge, unsure if such a thing was acceptable by his standards or her own.
How many? she asked herself irritably. How many close calls must we have? How many times must I almost lose him before I simply seize the moment?
Phrased that way, it took her only a second to answer.
Not ONE more time...
She closed her eyes and squeezed him hard, as if she was afraid that if she let him go, he'd disappear into nothingness forever.
Not one more time...
888
Skuld stepped up to the front door and gawked at the architecture. Oracle's house was old and seemed to take great pride in looking it. She had decided to take her sister up on her offer and come to dinner. It was weird, though. She had expected Belldandy to call her and let her know what time to be there, but she hadn't. So once her day at the Yggdrasil Operations Center had ended, she came right over.
Reaching out, she knocked loudly on the door and waited.
Nothing.
She tapped her foot impatiently and started knocking again.
"Open! Open! Open!" she said with each knock.
Finally, the door did open, and a strange man she had never seen before stood there.
"Skuld!" he cried happily.
"Yeah, that's m..." Before she could finish, the boy reached out and hugged her.
"It's so good to see you!" the boy cried.
She roughly pushed him off her. "Get off me, perv!" she shouted. The boy hit the door with a loud THUMP just as Belldandy appeared in the hall behind him.
"Ah! I'm so glad you came!"
"Oneesama!" Skuld cried with tears in her eyes as she pointed at the boy. "This strange guy just grabbed me!"
Belldandy blinked. "Did he?"
"YES!" Skuld cried. She sniffled. "I was so scared..."
"Same old Skuld," Keiichi muttered as he rubbed his head where it had impacted the door.
"HE EVEN KNOWS MY NAME!" Skuld cried. "He's probably been stalking me for weeks! Oneesama!"
Belldandy smiled wanly. "Skuld, this is Keiichi san," she said, gesturing to the boy.
"Hey," Keiichi said with a short wave.
Skuld arched an eyebrow. "This... is the guy?" she asked, unable to comprehend what she was hearing. She hadn't been sure what to expect, but figured a guy that could get Belldandy all a-twitter had to be six-five, nothing but muscle, and good to a fault. Not a short, puny pervert with bushy eyebrows...
"Hai!" Belldandy answered happily.
Skuld waited for Belldandy to introduce her, but realized it wasn't necessary. The boy had known who she was the moment he opened the door. She found that odd... and rather disconcerting.
"So..." she said. "You're Keiichi..."
"Yeah, that's me," he said nervously. "And look... you don't realize it, and this is going to sound crazy... but... well... I owe you..."
"WE owe you..." Belldandy corrected him with a smile.
"...We owe you... a lot," Keiichi finished.
"Why?" Skuld asked suspiciously. "What happened? Did you sell me to gypsies or something?!"
Keiichi just smiled. "Skuld... thank you."
The young Norn stepped into the hall, careful not to turn her back on the strange mortal. "I'm... just... going to go... over here..." she said carefully before turning and running down the hall.
Keiichi sighed. "I think that's going to be the hardest thing," he told Belldandy quietly. "Re-introducing one another to people who no longer know us."
"It's sad in a way," she replied. "The people whose lives we touched over the years... All of it just... never happened." She looked at him sadly. "And because of Sitri's interference... much of it won't happen again."
He stepped toward her and took her hand, prompting her to look up into his eyes.
"But we remember," he said. "So now we know what to look for and what to avoid. Maybe... we can still touch those lives. And maybe, in some ways, we can do it better this time."
She smiled. "Maybe." Looking up at him, she changed the subject. "Dinner will be ready soon. We just have to..."
"Belldandy," he interrupted.
"Hai?"
The boy looked sheepish. "I don't want to go back in there just yet. I want to be alone... with you..." he finished in a whisper.
The words made the goddess's pulse race. She squeezed his hand. "I feel the same way."
He cocked his head toward the path that led to the dock. "You wanna go for a walk?"
888
Oracle dropped some vegetables into a stew pot and turned to Aurora, who was cutting an onion nearby. "Oh, Aurora, you're cutting them too small."
"I can cut onions, Oracle."
"Yes, but not well," Oracle explained to her sister. "Step aside, step aside."
Aurora rolled her eyes and stood back as her older sister took over. She leaned against the far counter and watched. A moment later, the kitchen door opened and a young, dark-haired goddess entered.
"Hey," Skuld said.
"Hello, young Skuld," Oracle said, not turning away from the cutting board.
Skuld blinked. Did everyone in this house know her? "How do you know my name?"
"You're part of the supporting cast," Oracle told her simply.
The Norn let it go and got back to the subject at hand. "Yeah, anyway, I was just curious about something and hoping you could answer a quick question for me."
"Shoot," Aurora invited.
"Yeah," Skuld went on. "What the heck did you do to my sister?"
"We righted her destiny!" Oracle announced theatrically.
"Don't you mean 'wrote?'" Aurora asked.
"No, I mean 'righted!' It was wrong, now it's right! All is well!" Oracle spun around happily, kitchen knife in hand, prompting the other two goddesses to back away quickly. "Demon interference! Near-insurmountable odds! A Creation-killing singularity!... True, that one I'm still working on... And, yes, Urd is still tracking down Sitri... But aside from that, everything is back on track! For the first time since this whole episode got started, I'm optimistic about the future! What could possibly go wrong from here?!"
They heard a low buzz and blinked. Oracle turned to Aurora as the buzz started again. The Dawn cleared her throat and reached for something on her belt. "It's my Blackberry..."
"Oh, don't you get that!" Oracle hissed.
"Why not?" Aurora asked as the phone buzzed again.
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Oracle asked. "It's the perfect literary lead-in for something awful. I guarantee there's something disastrous on that email."
"That's stupid," Aurora said, looking down at the instrument and unlocking it.
"I don't know," Skuld said with concern. "I've read enough novels to see that she's got a point."
"It's probably just Hespera calling in her favor," Aurora said, typing in the password. "Probably wants me to take one of her shifts so she can go out."
"Aurora!" Oracle said, squaring her shoulders imperiously. "As your older sister, I command thee to put that Blackberry down!"
The Dawn stared at her sister defiantly before hitting 'Enter.' Looking down at the message, she took a breath.
"Dammit," she whispered. She looked up to find Oracle glaring at her.
"It's awful, isn't it?" the blonde asked.
"Yeah, a little," Aurora admitted.
888
"There's one," Keiichi whispered, pointing out a falling star shooting overhead. Lying next to her at the end of the dock, they had talked about unimportant things up until now, not wanting to break the spell by invoking more immediate and important topics.
He blinked as a sudden question came to him. "This is Heaven... so where are those stars coming from?"
"Many of them are goddesses returning from other realms," Belldandy told him. "And some of them are just falling stars."
His smile fell. It was time to talk about it.
"We can't be together, can we?" he whispered.
He felt her grab his hand and squeeze tightly. "We will," she replied. "It's the way it's supposed to be."
"What if... What if I just use my wish to wish that the singularity doesn't come?" he asked.
"Then it won't," Belldandy told him sadly. "And then, with my mission complete, I'd go back to Heaven and you'd go back to Earth."
"Dammit," he hissed. "What if I ask for you to stay and for the singularity to not appear?"
"It breaks the rules," she said. "You only get one wish, remember?"
"But..."
"Keiichi san, I... I don't want to speak of this right now."
"If you're right, though," he went on. "Then being with you destroys the world. Doesn't that mean that... even now..."
"It took three years to get to that point," Belldandy argued. "In the here and now, it will do no harm. And in the here and now, I'm with you, looking up at the stars and thanking the Almighty that we've been given another chance."
Keiichi turned his head and looked at her, saw the tear running down the side of her face as she looked up at the starlit sky.
"There will be time," she went on quietly. "To worry about all of those things. We won't have a choice. For now... for right now... I want to be with you, under this sky and know that everything will be all right."
He said nothing to this. After a moment of silence, Belldandy suddenly sat up and walked to the end of the dock. Nimbly hopping down, she stood on top of the water and turned to him. "Do you remember when I asked you why I don't fall?"
Keiichi sat up and nodded. "Yeah."
She smiled. "At the time, I told you that it was less important to ask that than to simply accept the way things were and live in that moment." The goddess regarded him and cocked her head. "Do you know why I don't fall?"
"No," he answered quietly.
"Because I have faith," she said. "I have faith that the water will support me, and it does. Just as I have faith that things will work out." She gave him a pleading look. "Have faith, Keiichi san."
"I do have faith," he said, scooting forward so that his legs dangled over the end of the dock. "I have faith in you."
"And I you," she said, leaning up to him. She closed her eyes and brushed her lips against his.
If nothing else, we have this, she thought. And I promise, if the Almighty One sees fit to give us more time together, I will never pass up another opportunity to do this...
"Oh, jeez, I knew it!"
Belldandy was so stunned by the sound of her sister's voice that she lost her concentration and fell into the water below with a loud splash!
"Belldandy!" Keiichi cried.
The goddess broke the surface and sputtered as her eyes found Keiichi. Skuld, Oracle and Aurora stood behind him. The Norn was mortified.
"Skuld!" she cried. "I... What... I mean..."
"We're really very very sorry!" Oracle begged quietly. "But we need to talk. All of us. Right now."
888
"'The goddess Urd is enjoying my hospitality,'" Aurora read from the Blackberry as she circled the group sitting on the couches and chairs in the sitting room. "'You have taken someone I love from me, so I have taken someone you love from you. If, like me, you would like your loved one returned alive and mostly undamaged, then you will follow the directions I've outlined below and meet me at eight p.m. local time tomorrow night.'"
Tears ran freely down Belldandy's face as she listened, her eyes cast forward, unable to look at anyone else as Aurora read.
"'Otherwise, I will simply have to amuse myself with her.'" Aurora lowered the Blackberry. "There's... There's an audio file attached, but..."
"What is it?" Belldandy asked.
"Belldandy, I..."
"Play it, please," Belldandy begged.
Aurora swallowed and clicked the file. The sound of Urd's screaming filled erupted from the Blackberry's tiny speaker, prompting Belldandy to bury her face in her hands.
Keiichi wrapped an arm around her to comfort her.
"What do we do now?" Aurora asked.
"That's easy," Skuld said, tears in her own eyes. "We give her the mortal."
"Skuld!" Belldandy snapped. "We cannot give Keiichi to Sitri! That is simply unacceptable and..."
"And she's right."
Belldandy turned her haunted eyes to the owner of that statement and found Keiichi looking down at his feet, unable to meet her gaze even as she begged him with her eyes to look at her.
"Keiichi san?"
"Look," he said quietly, still not facing her. "Even when she was pretending to be angelic... Sitri always had a temper. And after what she did to those Valkyries..." He swallowed and nodded. "She could do that to Urd. She will do that to Urd." He finally raised his head and met her gaze. "We can't let that happen."
"Keiichi san," she breathed. "Putting you in danger in Neesan's place won't solve the problem."
"But maybe this is our chance to solve it!" he replied. He looked to Oracle and Aurora. "I mean... we remember! We know how things are supposed to be! We have what? Four years of memories that she doesn't have!? There's got to be an advantage in there somewhere!"
Skuld put her finger to her lip and hmm'd in thought. Snapping her fingers, she looked up at them brightly. "I could build a homing beacon!" she said. "We put it on you and when this Sitri person takes you away, it'll lead us right to you!"
Aurora sighed. "Sitri is evil and insane... but she's not stupid. It'll be the first thing she checks for."
The younger Norn deflated.
"Keiichi san," Belldandy whispered, placing her hands on his shoulders. "I love my sister, but there must be some other way that doesn't involve putting you in danger."
"I don't think I'll be in danger," he said. "She wants me to love her. Killing me isn't going to get her that."
"She'll take you away," Belldandy went on. "She'll hide you..."
"And you'll find me," he replied, smiling for her benefit. "I have faith... that you'll find me."
Belldandy sniffled. "Hai," she said. "My feelings have always managed to find you before."
Something inside Keiichi clicked. "Your feelings always find me," he breathed. His head snapped to the empty chair by the window where Oracle sat during her free time.
"Eh?" Belldandy asked, blinking in puzzlement at Keiichi's actions. She watched the boy rush to the chair and pick up a small, blue box about a foot long and six inches wide. He rushed back to her and held it up to her.
"How fast can you knit?"
888
Urd woke to the sound of voices nearby and turned her head. She could see Sitri speaking into a compact in her hand at the entrance of the tunnel. She strained to hear what was being said and it took her a moment to realize just who Sitri was speaking to.
"But I had to seal them," Sitri whined with a pout. "Surely you understand the lengths a woman will go through to protect her loved ones? We can still win this. We can both get what we want. Please, Mama, don't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
There was a pause on the other end as Hild considered her daughter's plea. Urd opened her mouth call out to her mother, but suddenly found a sock in her mouth!
Sitri, her finger pointed at the Norn, smiled at her before turning back to the compact.
"What is your plan?" Hild asked. "If it impresses me, you may continue."
The demoness grinned. "I have taken a goddess prisoner," Sitri told her mother. "I will trade her for my Keiichi san."
"Why would they make such a trade?"
"Why should they not?" Sitri asked. "Who is Keiichi Morisato to them? The only one who would protest is Belldandy, and the whore would be voted down. A goddess vs. a mortal? No contest!"
"Which goddess?" Hild asked.
Sitri waved the question aside as Urd tried shouting through the sock in her mouth.
"It's unimportant," she said. "Just a minor spirit I came across in my travels. The point is, this will work!" Sitri said excitedly.
"And if they don't give you Keiichi?" Hild asked.
Sitri smiled. "Well, come now, Mother, I must still consider the Doublet System!"
"Indeed," Hild said, and Urd could almost see her mother arching her eyebrow.
"Indeed indeed!" Sitri assured her. "If it doesn't work, if they don't negotiate..."
"You will send her back?"
"Scout's honor!" Sitri said, holding up her right hand.
Hild thought for a moment. "Very well. You may continue... Remember, I don't need more dead demons or having to answer for more dead gods! Make your attempt. If they don't go for it, take it like a woman and move on."
"Yes, Mother! I swear it!" Sitri said happily. "If they don't go for the deal, I will send the goddess back!"
She closed her compact, cutting the connection with her mother and looked at Urd, grinning evilly.
"... in pieces..."
888
He sat across from her, watching the darning needles in her hands fly so fast he could barely see them. She didn't look at him, and he wasn't sure if this meant she was fixed on her task or... just didn't want to look at him.
Keiichi knew time was a factor, but he had to speak to her. "Belldandy?"
"Hai?" she asked, the needles not pausing.
"Are you upset with me?"
Her fingers stopped moving. "A little," she replied.
"I see," he whispered.
She looked up at him, her eyes begging him to understand. "It's not like that!" she said. "I just..." The goddess looked down at her lap again. "This risk... it's too much."
"Belldandy..."
"I received a phone call once," she said, her fingers starting to move again. "From a very kind, sympathetic policeman." A tear fell from her eye and landed in the yarn, soaking into the blue material and darkening it. "Who, as gently as he could... told me you were dead."
He didn't say anything.
"And at that moment, my heart stopped beating," she wept. "Suddenly, the world just wasn't the same. And when Peorth arrived and told us about the singularity, about how Creation was tearing itself apart, all I could think was, 'Well, of course it is! Keiichi san is dead!'"
Keiichi watched as two more tears fell into the fabric as she knit.
"I would have given anything to get you back!" she cried, not even having time to wipe her eyes. "Anything to just have you back home! And when we reset Yggdrasil, I thought I had my wish. But that didn't work either. There was no way to win. And Hild... when she showed me that you could have a life where you were happy without me, as much as it broke my heart, I was able to let you go. I hated it, but I did it."
"Belldandy..."
"She showed me a world where you met a nice young woman," Belldandy went on. "A woman you could love and who loved you... who you could grow old with... have children with..." Her fingers paused again. "And the Almighty One help me, Keiichi san... I hated her for it. I would have given anything... my life, my goddesshood, Heaven, Earth, Hell... I would have offered up anything just to be her, to have her life, to have you..."
The goddess looked up at him. "But at least you were alive!" she cried quietly. "At least you could be happy! This plan..." She shook her head.
"You'll find me," he said, trying to soothe her nerves.
"Hai... But how quickly?" she asked. "How long will it take? In what condition? Sitri will have you... and that frightens me more than anything."
He swallowed and reached out, placing his hand over hers and forcing her to stop knitting.
"I've died once," he told her quietly. "I'm not about to go through it again for a very long time." Belldandy looked up at him with watery eyes. "You're going to find me," he said confidently. "Where ever she takes me, you're going to find me." She looked down at the ground, and he squeezed her hands to force her to lock eyes with him. "I need you to have faith in that too," he told her.
She tried to look away again, but his hand on her cheek stopped her.
"Belldandy," he said, a tone of pleading in his voice. "I need you to believe that." He shook his head. "You're the reason I have faith to begin with. You are my faith. If you can't believe in this... how can I?"
"All the things I feel, Keiichi san... My fear, my dread, my love..."
"You have to save a place for hope, Belldandy," he begged.
"Hai," she whispered. "Hope has a place." She looked up at him and blinked through the tears. Lowering the needles, she took his hand and placed it on her chest, causing the boy to blush just a bit. He felt the goddess's heart beating under his fingers.
"In here," she whispered. "Hope has a place in here."
"Belldandy..."
She looked up at him and smiled. "And I shall find you, Keiichi san." The goddess continued to hold his hand on her chest and squeezed it. "I swear to you I shall find you. No matter what."
Keiichi leaned down as she moved up, catching her lips with his as she reached up and ran her free hand through his hair. He did his best to remember every sensation. Kisses with Belldandy had always been rare, and he always treasured each moment of them, the smell of her perfume, the faint taste of strawberries and the acceleration of her heartbeat under his hand.
When they finally parted, she let her fingers linger in his hair as looked into his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Keiichi," she whispered. "There's not much time."
"There will be," he told her. "When this is over."
888
The mirror sitting on the sandy ground shone brightly for a moment before Aurora rose from it and stepped off, holding her Sun Staff up in preparation for a trap. Her eyes looked over the site Sitri had chosen for the trade. It was in the middle of nowhere. She couldn't even see lights in the distance that would indicate a town or city. Millions of stars shone overhead. They were definitely in the boonies.
She was standing near the entrance of a large, natural tunnel in the side of a cliff. On the far side of this tunnel at the other side of the ridge, an orange campfire crackled happily.
The mirror flashed again and Keiichi appeared, tripping as he ascended and falling into the sand. A moment later, Belldandy rose gracefully from her travel medium and landed nimbly on her feet.
"Do you see her?" she asked anxiously.
Aurora nodded toward the tunnel where something moved. In the orange glow, Belldandy could make out two figures standing side by side. While the moon illuminated the goddesses and the mortal, a shadow fell over the two figures until one held a hand up and summoned a ball of light.
Sitri's determined eyes met theirs. Standing next to her, her arms bound behind her back by a set of emerald cuffs, Urd waited, unsure as to what exactly was to happen.
"It's her," Keiichi muttered, swallowing nervously.
"Let's keep this simple and civil!" Sitri called out to them. "First things first! Pick up that mirror and smash it against the rocks."
Belldandy picked up the mirror and regarded it quizzically. Why would...
"Now!" Sitri commanded.
The Norn reached out and swung the mirror against the cliff face, shattering it into a million pieces.
"Send Keiichi san and I send Urd," Sitri called out. "Any attempt at a double-cross and I'll cut her down to wallet size!"
Keiichi took a breath and zipped up his leather jacket. "This is it," he breathed.
"I want to hug you," Belldandy whimpered quietly. "Kiss you goodbye, but if she sees..."
"I know," he said. He couldn't look at her. If he did, Sitri might pick up on it. "I'll see you soon."
Without another word, Keiichi started down the tunnel.
At the other end, Sitri smiled and gave Urd a light push. "Go on, Oneesama. Let's get together and do lunch sometime. I'd love to spend quality time with my big sister!"
Urd grit her teeth as she started to walk. "Piss off."
Sitri sighed. "Can't we just put this past us, Oneesama?"
The Norn didn't answer. She walked down the tunnel, approaching the mortal boy. As she passed, she whispered to him.
"Good luck, kid."
He nodded, but didn't meet her gaze. "Thanks for always being there, Urd."
She blinked but kept walking, confused by his words.
As Keiichi approached, Sitri ran up to him and hugged him.
"Keiichi san!" she cried. Her hands roamed up and down his back, searching for signs of abuse or bugs. "Did they hurt you?! Are you okay?!"
He summoned the best smile he could. "I'm okay. They didn't hurt me."
"Oh, thank the Almighty One!" she cried in relief, slipping back into her role as easily as if she were putting on an old pair of slippers. "I was so frightened for you when they took you away!"
Keiichi choked back bile. "I knew you'd find me," he said, his thoughts running back home to Belldandy. "You always find me."
"And I always will!" she promised. She suddenly leaned up and kissed him passionately, causing him to step back a pace.
His eyes shot open as he felt the ground rumble and heard the sound of stone cracking behind him.
Belldandy! he begged silently. Don't! You have to hold it back!
Sitri pulled away and took his hand, leading him toward the campfire. "Quickly, Keiichi san! While we still can!"
Before he could say anything, they disappeared into the fire's white smoke.
888
Belldandy watched as the demon embraced her Keiichi and then kissed him full on the lips. She felt a flash of very unladylike rage move through her, then felt the ground moving under her feet as a result.
Closing her eyes, she grabbed onto that jealousy and dragged it back into her heart. It wasn't the time for that. She had to be strong now.
She opened her eyes and saw Urd approaching. Rushing forward, she took her sister's arm and helped her into the moonlight. When she turned back, she saw that Sitri and Keiichi had already disappeared, robbing her of an opportunity for a last glance at him.
Finally out of harm's way, Urd weakly fell to her knees. Aurora stepped behind her and released the Norn's arms, which then fell loosely to her sides.
"Neesan?" Belldandy inquired quietly. "Neesan? Are you okay?"
Urd caught her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay," she said. "I just need a minute."
"What happened?" Aurora asked.
"She caught me," Urd growled bitterly. She shook her head. "You were right, Aurora. That demon is crazy. More than crazy! She's psychotic!" She struggled to her feet as she ranted. "I swear, she's going to end up killing that boy..."
"Urd!" Aurora hissed.
"What?!" Urd cried, turning to her defiantly.
Aurora nodded over the Norn's shoulder to Belldandy. Urd turned and found her sister there, tears in her eyes.
"Belldandy," Aurora began quietly. "It'll be okay. We'll get him back before..."
"Hai, we will," Belldandy said assuredly.
Urd knew she was missing something and decided to keep her mouth shut for now until she could catch up on current events. Aurora, however, started to grill her immediately.
"Did you learn anything we can use?" she asked. "We have a way to track him, but even if... when... we find them, we're still going to have to deal with Sitri."
Urd's head was still spinning from her captivity and torment at Sitri's hands. "She's got a hideout," she said. "A tunnel of love. Creepy, psycho..."
"What else?" Aurora pressed.
The goddess thought for a moment and turned to Belldandy. "You still got that ring?" she asked.
"Hai," Belldandy said, offering her hand to Urd so she could see it.
"You remember Mara?" Urd asked. "That demon we sealed years ago? Remember how she was weak against symbols of good fortune?" At Belldandy's nod, she continued. "I think Sitri's the same way, only with symbols of love."
"But she's a love demon, isn't she?" Aurora asked.
"And I think that's why it hurts her," Urd replied. "She represents the dark side of love, but when she comes in contact with symbols of true love, it hurts her. She remarked on your ring, Sis, insisted that you had to have a boyfriend. She said, 'only love burns.'"
"Wait a second," Aurora gasped in dawning horror. "Are you saying that symbols of love... things like gifts... burn her? So... she'd know if she touched one of these things, right?"
"Yeah, I think so," Urd said, gaining confidence as it all fell together.
She saw Aurora and Belldandy share a horrified look.
"The sweater," Belldandy breathed, terrified by the revelation. "If she touches it..."
"She'll know she's been had," Aurora finished.
"We must find him!" Belldandy cried. "Now!"
"So what are we waiting for?!" Urd cried, not understanding everything, but knowing urgency was called for.
Aurora kicked the remains of the mirror's frame with her toe. "She's mirrors, I'm the sunrise, and you're TVs," she said with disdain. "You see a Component City around here?"
Before Urd could reply, Belldandy leapt skyward and started hopping from tree-top to tree-top in a direction she hoped would lead her to civilization and a mirror.
There wasn't much time.
888
Keiichi half expected to land at their house in Nekomi, so he was a little thrown when he was thrown from a fireplace to land three inches from the mouth of a grizzly bear.
Crying out, he scampered backward and took a breath as he realized it was just a rug. He took a look at the strange surroundings and found himself in a rustic but cozy cabin. A fire roared in the aforementioned fireplace to his left. A comfortable-looking couch sat nearby and dark curtains covered the windows.
He felt the air move around him and turned to see Sitri appear out of the smoke wisps in the fire, landing on her feet with a triumphant smile.
"Ta-da!" she announced theatrically. "Better late than never, right? And it's the perfect place to hide!"
It clicked in Keiichi's mind. The morning Belldandy took him to Heaven he and Sitri were going to a cabin in the mountains.
"Yeah," he said hesitantly. "It's... It's great."
"Oh! One thing I have to do first! Be right back!" she told him, rushing into a nearby room across the hall from the kitchen.
Keiichi watched her disappear through the doorway and flinched as he heard the sound of shattering glass followed by the sound of several grunts, hammer blows and smaller pieces of glass breaking. A moment later, Sitri slinked back into the living room, casually tossing a hammer onto a nearby shelf.
"That should make sure we're not disturbed," she purred. "Now then..." She approached the boy and gently placed her hands on his chest, running her fingers down the front of his leather jacket.
"S...Sitri..."
"I missed you so much," she whispered. "When they took you... I... I went a little crazy..."
The boy was silent for a moment. "Oh yeah?" he asked casually.
"Hai," she breathed, leaning into him. "I'd do anything for you, Keiichi san. I would have done anything to get you back..."
"I... I knew you would," he replied.
She drew a little circle on his chest with her finger. "What did they do?" she asked. "Did they torture you?"
"No," Keiichi said, racking his brain. He knew he had to say something at least close to the truth or else she'd get suspicious that he knew what she was.
She waited for him to elaborate.
"They... They said you were a demon," he told her, the truth.
Sitri giggled. "A demon? Me?"
"Yeah," Keiichi said. "They tried to say you were using me for some... diabolical scheme," he went on. "I knew it was crap. I knew... not you." This was the truth as he, at one point, felt that way. It seemed like another life. With his old memories intact, the last two months seemed almost like a book he had read rather than his life.
"I'm so happy you have faith in me, Keiichi san," she said as she hugged him. "It's that faith that sustains me."
It was weird hearing those words, so close to the ones he had spoken to Belldandy. For a moment, he felt a swell of guilt for what he was doing, setting her up for the goddesses to seal her.
Of course... with no mirror or TV, there was no way for them to get to him unless....
He looked up at a nearby clock. It was three a.m. here. At least three more hours until dawn.
Sitri suddenly stepped back. "Oh my!" she cried. "You must be starving! I'll cook for you! What would you like?"
Keiichi searched his mind for a way to stall for time. "Um... You know what really sounds good?" he asked. Sitri smiled and waited for him to continue. "Do you remember that seafood stew you made about a month ago?"
"My Seafood Nagasaki?" she asked.
"Yeah..."
"Hmmm..." she said. "That's a lot of ingredients I'd need to get, and a long prep time... Are you sure you wouldn't prefer something right now that I..."
He bit his lip and went all in. "Yeah," he said. "It's just that... while they were holding me, all I could think of was being back with you and eating your wonderful cooking... I was just hoping that..."
"Say no more!" she cried, clasping her hands in front of her. "I'll just make a run to the market and get what I need! You stay here and make yourself comfortable!"
She gave him a quick kiss. "Back soon!" Without another word, she hopped into the fire and disappeared.
Realizing he might not get a better chance, Keiichi rushed to the door and threw it open, intending to run to the nearest neighbor's house and find a mirror. What he saw made him freeze in his tracks.
Snow was whipping over the tiny front porch, and the boy adjusted his leather jacket. There was nothing outside the cabin but snow and trees. It looked like there was a small foot trail leading into the dark forest but there was no car, no snowmobile and no light. He knew if he stood outside for more than ten minutes, he'd freeze to death.
He stepped back inside and shut the door, his eyes wide. The mortal swallowed nervously. He was trapped. Sitri had chosen a place that would not only keep the goddesses from finding him but would keep him trapped there.
888
Urd had to struggle to keep up with her sister as Belldandy leapt from tree-top to tree-top. It was more than just being exhausted from her time with Sitri. Belldandy was running as if Hild herself was after her.
"Belldandy!" she called out. "Hold on! I can't..."
The exhaustion catching up with her, Urd landed on a rock outcropping to catch her breath.
Finally noticing her sister's situation, Belldandy turned and headed back to check on her, landing next to her as Aurora finally caught up.
"Neesan!" Belldandy cried. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," Urd said. "But what's going on? Where are you going? You don't even know where they are!"
"I'll find him," Belldandy replied.
Urd regarded her sister in puzzlement. A few days ago, she left a Belldandy who doubted herself and was nursing a crush on a mortal boy. The goddess who stood before her now was somehow more mature, more sure of herself.
But she knew Sitri...
"And then what?" Urd asked her, a tone of challenge in her voice. "And then what?!" she repeated loudly. "Sitri isn't some Vector daemon causing flu outbreaks! She's got power! A power born from her twisted vision of love and a potent hatred for anyone who would interfere with it!"
"I know," Belldandy whispered.
Urd blinked and shook her head as if trying to make sense of her sister. "You know?! You know?! A few days ago you called the NOSC in tears because you were so afraid of her! Now what?! You're going to bust down her front door, yell 'BELLDANDY SMASH!' and throw her out the window?!"
Belldandy said nothing.
The half-demon gently put her hands on her sister's shoulders and lowered her voice, hoping to get through to her. "Belldandy... you can't beat her."
"I can," Belldandy said. She smiled. "You told me how."
"What?"
"Hai," the Norn said, closing her eyes. "You said it yourself. She's weak against love. When I fought her last time, it was different. I had nothing to fight for. Now... Now I have Keiichi san..."
"The power of love?" Urd asked in amazement. "That's your plan?! You're going to defeat her with the power of love!? This isn't some romance novel, Sis! She'll kill you! She wants to kill you! So bad she can taste it!"
"If I do nothing, Keiichi san will die."
Urd paused, the goddess side of her hating herself for what she was about to say. "Maybe... That's just how it's supposed to be."
Belldandy gave her a venomous look that softened to one of pity. It wasn't Urd's fault. She didn't know Keiichi, didn't remember him. There was a time when her older sister would have thrown herself into danger on the boy's behalf, but that Urd was gone. All she knew was that her sister was walking into danger for the sake of a boy she had only known a few days.
"That is not the way it is supposed to be," Belldandy assured her. "I'm going to find him. And I'm going to save him.... Or I will die in the attempt."
Urd looked at her in a mixture of pity, anger and fear.
"Have faith, Neesan," Belldandy whispered with a smile. "Destiny still has a say."
888
Keiichi forced the last spoonful of soup into his mouth and swallowed. He offered the demon sitting on the other side of the table a smile.
Sitri watched him as he finished his meal, happy that she could bring him joy and knowing that she would soon take joy from him for herself.
"How about a drink?" she asked softly. "Cocoa? Maybe with a shot of peppermint schnapps?" She stood up and led him to the couch, gently pushing him down into it. "I'll fix it while you relax with a cigarette. You've had a rough few days."
"Yeah, that sounds good... but... no smokes," he said. He saw her blink. "I'm quitting," he said.
Sitri giggled. "As you wish," she said. "They'll be here if you change your mind." She left the cigarettes on the end table and went back to the kitchen.
Sitting closer to the fire, the mortal started to get warm. He pulled off his leather jacket and placed it over the back of the couch. His hands touched the fabric of the blue sweater he had worn beneath it.
She'll find me, he thought. She will...
Sitri emerged from the kitchen with a cup of cocoa. Smiling, she placed it on the end table and stepped toward him, her hips swaying from side to side.
"My Keiichi san," she whispered. "All mine." Before the boy could come up with some excuse not to, the demon embraced him, kissing him before resting her head on his shoulder with a smile.
His heart raced, but it was out of fear rather than emotion. Her hands were running up and down his back.
"We'll hide here for awhile," she said. "Then we'll start over where they'll never find us. We'll be together forever... and not even death will part us..."
She closed her eyes and savored the feeling of possessing him so completely. He belonged to her now. She had taken him from Belldandy.
Sitri had won.
The demon adjusted her head. The material in his sweater was making her itch. It must be wool... Her eyes flashed open as that itching became something else.
Gasping in pain, she stepped back and looked at her hands, watching them turn a dark, angry red. She reached up and touched her cheek where it had cuddled against his shoulder, feeling the skin there dry and flake to her touch.
"Sitri!?" Keiichi asked. "Are you all right?! What is it?!"
She grit her teeth as rage flowed through her. Keiichi stared at her in horrified awe, clueless as to what was happening to the demon. As the skin on her cheek started to peel away, Sitri grabbed him by either side of the head and pushed him down to the couch.
"Sitri! What are..."
Before he could finish, the demoness leaned down and ran her tongue over his lips. Stunned, Keiichi didn't move.
But Sitri wasn't kissing him. She tasted his lips, searching for something she hoped she wouldn't find...
Because so help her if she did...
Shrimp, noodles, soup stock... her mind inventoried. She went down the list of everything that had touched his lips in the last few days. She recognized the bitter taste of her own lipstick, the food he had had for breakfast that morning and...
Strawberry...
She growled. It wasn't strawberries the fruit, or strawberry syrup, or strawberry ice cream...
It was strawberry lip gloss, something the demoness had never... ever... worn.
Sitri stood up and looked down at the befuddled and frightened boy below her.
"Sitri?"
"You... cheating... bastard," she bit out.
"Sitri?" he asked again, a ball of ice falling from his throat into his stomach.
"You sat there while I cooked for you," she hissed, suddenly grabbing him by the throat. "Sat there in the sweater that strumpet... that whore... gave to you!"
"Sitri!" he croaked as he struggled for breath. "Wait!"
She grabbed the neck of the sweater and watched thin wisps of smoke float up from between her fingers. With a quick yank, she ripped the sweater from the boy and tossed it into the fireplace.
"No!" he cried.
He felt himself rise into the air as Sitri lifted him bodily from the couch. The next moment he was flying across the room, coming to a sudden stop as his right shoulder struck the wall. He heard a sickening pop and cried out in agony as his arm popped out of its socket. The boy hit the ground, gasping in pain.
Sitri looked down at him with wrath in her eyes as the mortal writhed painfully on the ground, holding his dislocated shoulder with his left hand.
"Where do you get the balls to do such a thing to me?!" she demanded.
"It's... It's not what you think," he sputtered out. He turned as he felt her fingers around his neck again, lifting him off the ground.
"She KISSED YOU!!!" she screamed at him before tossing him to the other side of the room like a rag doll.
Keiichi felt liquid seep into his eye and touched his forehead with the fingers of his good hand, finding blood smeared there. Sitri stood over him, her eyes closed as if she were trying to hold back.
When Keiichi had reassured Belldandy of this plan, he had told her that he was sure Sitri wouldn't kill him. While that might be true, the boy suddenly realized there was nothing keeping her from beating him to just this side of death and then healing him... just so she could do it all over again.
Every plan has flaws...
Sitri swallowed. "Calm down, Sitri," she said quietly to herself. "Just calm down... Every couple fights... This is our first one. It's actually kind of cute..."
Keiichi didn't think it was very cute as a fresh flash of pain from his shoulder wracked his body. He looked around desperately, hoping to see a mirror, but he realized that Sitri was too smart for that.
Help wasn't coming.
He kicked out with his feet, pushing himself toward the front door while Sitri was distracted. Maybe if he could get outside, he could make a run for it.... and maybe find civilization before he froze to death...
Sitri, meanwhile, was still ranting to herself.
"Men stray, it's the way they're wired," she told herself. "He's a mortal man, he's weak... Forgiveness is divine, Sitri... Forgiveness... it's divine, but we need atonement... Yes, we need atonement first..."
He was halfway to the door when Sitri picked him up again and planted his back firmly against the wall.
"Keiichi san, I want to forgive you," she said almost rationally. "But before I do, we need to talk about your fidelity problems."
"Okay," he muttered. "Shoot..."
"I offer you everything, Keiichi san," she said. "My heart, my soul, my love... All I ask in return is your love, your heart... your soul... and your faith and fidelity." In a flash of anger, Sitri shoved him roughly against the wall. "When you cavort with shameless tramps like Belldandy, it hurts me, Keiichi san. It hurts my heart."
"I'm sorry?" he tried.
"Not yet, you're not," she said almost sympathetically. "Before I can forgive you, you must atone for your actions. You must be made to feel a pain equal to what I felt when I discovered your dalliances. You must hurt on the outside as much as I hurt on the inside."
"Oh," he let out weakly. He cried out in pain as Sitri grabbed his dislocated arm and swung him around by it, launching him across the cabin again. He landed near the front window and struggled to his knees, grabbing the curtain to try to pull himself up.
"Keiichi san, I don't enjoy hurting you like this," Sitri said as she made her way to him. "I'm doing this because I love you. Because I know that after all of this, we'll have a greater appreciation for one another's feelings."
The curtain rod gave way under his weight, and Keiichi fell back to the floor, the curtain falling on top of him. The sky outside was turning orange.
"I know after this, that you'll never stray again," Sitri said with a smile. "Ever."
He felt the demoness take hold of his ankle and start to pull him away from the window. Keiichi grabbed hold of the other curtain in a desperate bid to resist.
Outside, the sun started to rise.
"Come now, Keiichi san, I promise this won't take more than another hour or so."
Sitri stopped as she heard a new noise. The light jingle of brass on brass. Turning, she saw something that amazed her.
Belldandy stood at the far wall, the light of the rising sun illuminating her combat outfit and the golden staff in her hands. An expression of fury, so unnatural on her, marred her face.
"Belldandy!" Keiichi gasped out painfully.
"Belldandy," Sitri said with a predatory grin.
The Norn raised the staff, the bangles at the end jingling against one another.
"Get away from my boyfriend!" she hissed.
Sitri dropped Keiichi's ankle. "This will only take a few moments, hon," she said to him as she turned to this new threat.
Belldandy didn't move, didn't fidget. There was no fear in her eyes this time, just an anger born of seeing a loved one in pain.
"So the slut herself appears!" Sitri announced theatrically.
"Leave him alone," Belldandy ordered. "He's yours no longer."
Sitri smiled and laughed. "Nonsense! Keiichi and I are lovers! Soul mates! Isn't that right, Keiichi san?"
"I think I'd like to see other people," Keiichi commented weakly, only seconds from passing out from his injuries.
"You're just upset," Sitri said. "That feeling will pass."
She turned back to Belldandy. "And you are interrupting our vacation." Raising a hand, two bands of silver light leapt from the demon's fingers and slammed against the Norn, throwing her back against the wall.
Belldandy cried out and raised the staff, channeling her power into holding back the dark attack. The silver whips stopped a foot short of the Norn and struggled to get to her.
She's so strong! she thought. Are these her feelings for Keiichi san?
Sitri smiled at her as the silver bands of light continued to assault the Norn's defenses. "You can't hold out against me forever, Belldandy."
"Belldandy!" Keiichi cried, struggling to his knees. The boy looked to the window, saw that the sun was fully up and realized the desperation of their situation. With no mirrors or TVs, Belldandy had traveled through Aurora's travel medium, but there was only time to send her. Help wasn't coming.
Belldandy was facing Sitri alone.
"Belldandy!" he cried again. "Just get out of here! Run!"
Struggling to keep Sitri's attack at bay, Belldandy could only just make out Keiichi's words. If she left now, Sitri would continue to hurt him. If she stayed...
What did I tell Neesan? she asked herself. That last time I had nothing... no one... to fight for?
The staff felt heavy in her hands. It began to heat up under the relentless assault, burning her fingers.
This is not the power love gives someone, she thought. This is its dark side, its jealous rage, its obsession... It's not pure...
Sitri took a step toward her, increasing the pressure on the Norn.
Belldandy's eyes went to Keiichi, his bloodied face, the arm hanging loosely at his side. That is what Sitri's love has wrought, she thought. Our love... Memories of Keiichi smiling at her, of their few and far-between kisses, of their sporadic moments alone, of dancing, working together to build their life together in Nekomi...
... that is pure.
The silver bands broke through and wrapped around Belldandy's staff. The Norn closed her eyes and let memories of her and Keiichi's life together come to the fore, not just memories of events and places, but faces and feelings. The love she shared with Keiichi had not only touched their lives, but the lives of their friends and families. And their love touched Keiichi and Belldandy.
True love is not shared by two alone. It is the lives it touches...
Belldandy looked up as a golden light spread out from her heart, moving down her arms to her hands where it escaped and became two bands of gold. The tendrils of light, her love, wrapped around the grey whips of Sitri's emotions and made their way toward the demon like fast-moving vines.
Sitri realized she was being attacked and poured more power into her own, but Belldandy seemed unaffected. She stood there, her eyes closed as the golden light moved closer and closer to Sitri.
Before Sitri thought to disengage, it was too late. The wisps of light touched her hands and ran up her arms, wrapping themselves around her body. The demon cried out as the light began to burn her, and she knew then what it was. It was no magic spell or blast of energy. It was Belldandy's feelings, her love, and its purity burned Sitri like acid.
The demon screamed and struggled in its grasp as she was exposed to what real love was. She wept as she realized the terrible secret; that what she thought was love was nowhere close to what she was seeing now.
Opening her eyes and seeing Sitri in such pain, Belldandy reached into a pocket in her cloak and drew out a CD. Tossing it toward the demon, the CD touched Sitri's forehead and began to glow with an eerie green light.
Sitri, tears in her eyes, looked at Belldandy as the green light began to pull her into the seal.
"I love him so much," she wept.
"I know," Belldandy whispered in understanding.
The CD erupted in a bright green flash, and Sitri disappeared. The disk hit the ground, the label visible.
When the Man Comes Around.
Belldandy looked down at the disk and let out a breath. Hearing Keiichi grunt in pain nearby broke her out of her thoughts, and she ran to him.
"Keiichi san!" she cried, dropping the staff as she knelt next to him. "Keiichi san, are you okay?"
The mortal boy rolled painfully onto his back, and Belldandy gently touched his face as she assessed his wounds. He looked up at her and smiled.
"You found me," he said.
She smiled. "Hai. I promised I would."
Placing her hands on his chest and shoulder, she channeled healing energy into him, mending his injuries.
"Sitri?" he asked.
"Sealed," she said. "Perhaps... with time... she'll find some semblance of peace."
"I hope so," he said. "It's weird," he whispered. "I remember my time with her... before you came back... before I remembered you..."
"And you feel something for her," Belldandy finished.
"Yeah," he admitted guiltily. "There were times when... When, even looking back on it, I don't think she was faking it."
"That is your strength, Keiichi san," she said as she healed him. "You remember the good... even in evil. It's one of the reasons I love you."
"Belldandy..."
She smiled down at him. "How do you feel?"
He moved his shoulder and found the pain had gone. "Better," he confessed.
The goddess stood up as Keiichi climbed carefully to his feet. Taking a look around at the trashed cabin, he turned to her.
"So... now what?" he asked quietly.
"We should return to Heaven," she said. "Aurora had an idea for what to do if I managed to seal Sitri."
"And how do we do that?" he asked.
"Eh?" Belldandy asked.
"Well... There are no mirrors," he pointed out. "No TV, and the sun doesn't come up again for another twenty-four hours."
She cutely put her finger to her lip in thought. "Then we're alone here. I suppose we'll have to wait," she said. She smiled. "I could cook breakfast."
At that moment, it was like things were back to normal. "That would be great," he said.
888
Aurora entered the sitting room with a triumphant look on her face. "It's done!"
"Done?" Urd asked.
"Done!" Aurora repeated. She turned to Keiichi. "They came to a deal. Sitri will remain in her seal for one hundred years, plenty of time for you to live a long, happy life without having to worry about her coming after you. If Hild or any other demon comes after you during that time, she stays in that seal the full five hundred. Hild has agreed. It seems she cares about her daughter after all."
"Who would have guessed?" Urd whispered sardonically.
"So you're good to go!" Aurora finished happily. "You can go home whenever you want!"
Keiichi swallowed. "Go home?" He turned and caught Belldandy's eye. The goddess looked back at him sadly. They had spent the last three days in Heaven, waiting for Aurora's plan to bear fruit, and now that it had...
Aurora wasn't dense enough to miss what was passing between them. "Yeah," she said in a more subdued tone.
"Then... I guess this is it," he whispered.
"Hai," Belldandy replied sadly.
The two stared at one another.
"This is crap," Urd remarked. Over the past three days, she had gotten the full story out of Belldandy and Keiichi and couldn't believe there was nothing that could be done. "Just go with him anyway. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Um... the end of the world," Aurora replied.
"So," Keiichi said, clearing his throat. "I guess..."
"Jumping the gun a little, aren't we?" Oracle interrupted from her chair as she knit a sweater. At their questioning look, she went on. "You two still have business, don't you?"
They blinked. "The wish," Belldandy said in realization.
"Yeah," Keiichi said, scratching the back of his head. "I keep forgetting that in this timeline you haven't granted me one yet."
"And you are owed," Oracle pointed out.
He sighed. "What's the point?" he asked in resignation. "If I can't wish for what I want, I might as well sell it on Ebay."
Belldandy looked miserable. "Keiichi san... please. I know that... we can't be together... but please... let me make you happy... just one more time."
"Who said you can't have what you want?" Oracle asked. She sighed. "One of the problems with script writing is that words mean something. Think about it. What's the problem?"
"Being with Belldandy destroys the world," Urd supplied.
"Wrong!" Oracle cried in response. "Try again!"
"Being in close proximity to a goddess over an extended period of time causes a linked singularity between Keiichi and Yggdrasil," Aurora explained.
"Correct! You get a cookie!"
"Same difference," Urd grumbled.
"Now, what was the wish that started all this?" Oracle asked.
"That a goddess like Belldandy always stays by my side," Keiichi replied, the words forever seared into his mind.
"And what is the word shared in both the problem and the cause?" Oracle asked.
"'Goddess?'" Aurora answered.
Oracle waited for Keiichi and Belldandy to get it. "It would be a shame to derail Destiny for the sake of a single word, ne?"
The two looked at one another in hopeful realization.
"Can it really be that easy?" Belldandy whispered.
Keiichi looked from Oracle to Belldandy and back again. "Wait! No! I... I can't do that to Belldandy!" He looked at the goddess. "Belldandy... I mean... you're a... this... This is your home! I can't..."
She stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around him. "No, Keiichi san," she whispered. "This is home. 'Heaven' is a word you call a place. But this..." She squeezed him. "This is what it really means. We both have a dream. If we want to live that dream, we have to be willing reach out and take it."
"Belldandy," he whispered in awe.
"It's not just your wish anymore, Keiichi san," she said. "It belongs to us both. I want this. I want to be with you. And I'll sacrifice what I must to make that so."
"I don't like where this conversation's going," Skuld threw in.
Belldandy stepped back three paces and smiled. "Do it, Keiichi san."
Keiichi swallowed and took a breath. "I... I think I know what I would like you to grant me," he said the familiar words.
"Hai?" Belldandy prompted with a smile.
"I would like..."
"Hai?"
He paused, wondering if Oracle was right or wrong. Would simple word-play be enough? "... a woman like you... to always be by my side."
Belldandy smiled as the emblem on her forehead began to glow. The air around them became electrified and began to swirl around them at hurricane strength. A blue beam of light shot upward from Belldandy's emblem, smashing into the glass ceiling above them and into the sky. The rest of them ducked as glass rained down from above.
The goddess rose a foot into the air, her eyes shut as the wish request was sent, processed and an answer sent back. Keiichi watched anxiously, unsure as to whether or not this would even work. If it did...
The beam of light tapered off, but Belldandy remained in the air. The other goddesses gasped as the blue emblems on Belldandy's face began to dissolve, sublimating from the Norn's face leaving only unmarred skin. Her earring began to glow with a pale, golden light, and the others watched as cracks appeared in the jeweled seal that kept the full force of Belldandy's goddess powers at bay.
With a crack, the earring shattered.
The air stopped moving, and Belldandy fell to the ground in a heap. Keiichi, Urd and Skuld rushed forward to help her but were unsure of what they could do.
"Belldandy!?" Keiichi cried, helping the Norn sit up as her eyes fluttered weakly. "Belldandy? Are you all right?"
"Look at her face," Skuld whispered. "Her emblem's gone."
Belldandy touched her forehead, unable to tell if that was true or not. "Keiichi san?" she asked tiredly. "I... I feel strange..."
"What should we do?" Keiichi asked.
"Did it work?" Urd asked.
"I don't know!" Keiichi replied. "Let's get her to bed so she can rest." He started to help the goddess to her feet.
Belldandy reached down to push herself up and cried out in pain. Holding her hand in front of her face, she saw crimson blood in her palm. Wincing, she pulled a small shard of glass from her hand and continued to stare at it.
"I'm... I'm bleeding," she whispered. She smiled happily.
Urd grabbed her hand and looked at it, saw the smear of mortal blood in her sister's palm. Grabbing her sister's wrist, she pressed two fingers into the back of her forearm, finding a steady, slow pulse. She looked up at Belldandy incredulously. "Belldandy..."
"Wait!" Skuld cried. "Is Oneesama okay?! What's going on?!"
It was Belldandy's eyes that sealed the deal. Staring into them, Urd found herself looking into the eyes of a wonderful person with a good heart, but the spark of light that came with immortality and the power of the cosmos itself was gone. She wasn't sure if it detracted from her beauty or added to it. But it wasn't there.
The half-demon smiled wistfully. "You got your wish, Sis," she said. "You're not a goddess anymore."
"WHAT?!" Skuld cried. She turned to Keiichi and growled. "What the heck did you do to her!?"
"He granted my wish," Belldandy whispered with a smile.
Standing off to the side, Oracle looked very pleased with herself.
Looking at her, Aurora sighed. "Oh, go ahead. I guess you earned this one."
"And they both lived happily ever after!" Oracle announced theatrically. "The End!"
"No," Belldandy told her, looking up from her bleeding hand with a bright smile. "It's not the end! Don't you see?! What's past is prologue. It was all a dream. And before a dream can come true, it must first end. This..." She looked up at Keiichi, who grinned down at her. "This... is only the beginning of the rest of the story."
EPILOGUE
With Keiichi and Belldandy's wish granted and the threat of the singularity removed from play, the two mortals returned to Earth to begin their lives anew. While the Duchess of Malebolge may have been certifiably insane, she was also fiscally responsible and had insured their house, giving Keiichi enough money to put a deposit on a new apartment above a video rental store.
Keiichi placed the box on the counter and started to unpack. The new apartment was small, but comfortable. "Cozy," Belldandy had called it, and he had to agree. It wasn't the temple, but that had been a different time, a different life... a dream. This was a new life, and they were starting fresh.
The box emptied, he turned and jumped in surprise.
"What's up, Big Brother?" Megumi asked, standing not two feet from him, an expectant look on her face.
"Hey, Megumi," Keiichi said. "How was your trip?"
"Keima and Takano say hi," Megumi replied darkly. "My apartment has been ransacked, and I can only assume that it has something to do with your phone call... So... Explanation?"
"Well," Keiichi began...
"Ah! Megumi san! Welcome home!" Belldandy cried as she entered the apartment with another box.
Megumi blinked in surprise. "Belldandy san?! What... What are you doing here?" Megumi asked her.
"Keiichi san and I live together!"
Megumi's eyes narrowed as she turned to her brother. "The plot thickens," she noted.
"Heh... heh heh..." he replied nervously. "Here we go again..."
888
Belldandy, of course, had the most difficulty in this new situation. Despite outward appearances, there were a great many differences between goddesses and mortal women. While she welcomed the new emotions and sensations that came with mortality, the knowledge that she was now able to bear children, and the new sense of adventure that came with learning the ins and outs of the life of a mortal, she still had to learn to deal with the physiological differences between goddess and woman. A sense of peace is difficult to find when trying to accustom oneself to the hormones generated by the body of a young woman...
Keiichi opened the front door as he removed his motorcycle helmet and stepped inside the apartment. "Belldandy?" he called. "Are you here?"
He closed the door and turned just in time to see the young former goddess crash into him, kissing him full on the lips. The boy cried out as his girlfriend knocked him to the floor.
888
While Keiichi had to learn to adjust to his new memories and find ways to explain Belldandy's presence, the two did have help. Although Urd and Skuld could not spend significant amounts of time on Earth, they were willing to help their sister by using Yggdrasil to hack Earth computers while no one was looking...
Keiichi looked over the mail on the counter. "You got something from NIT," he said, puzzled. He handed the envelope to Belldandy, who blinked and opened it.
She smiled triumphantly and held the letter up. "I've been accepted to Nekomi Tech with a full scholarship!" she declared.
The boy blinked. "But... How.... I... That's great!" he finally said. "When did you apply?! We've only been here for a few days!"
"I didn't!" she said, starting to feel confused herself.
It came to them at the same time. "Urd and Skuld," they said in unison.
Keiichi found another envelope with her name on it. "Bank of Nekomi," he said, handing it to her. "It says your new debit card is enclosed."
"They really shouldn't use Yggdrasil like that," she noted as she opened the envelope.
"You going to send it back?" he asked.
She paused as she considered the idea. "I could," she said. "But my sisters did go through a lot of trouble..."
He smiled. "Yeah, I bet they did." Turning back to the mail, he suddenly froze and cleared his throat. "I think this one is courtesy of Urd," he said, handing the next one to her.
Belldandy looked down at the issue of Modern Bride with her name on it. She felt a warmth in her cheeks as she smiled.
"Keiichi san?"
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Please remember to finish your foreign language credits on time," she said. "It would be nice if you could get that job you wanted."
"Yeah?" he replied noncommittally.
"Hai," she said softly. "It would be nice if... after we graduate, you could have a stable job... Then... perhaps..."
He looked down at her hand, at the ring that still rode her finger, and blushed. "Then..." he said, clearing his throat nervously, "...maybe... maybe I could get you a new ring..."
Belldandy blushed brighter. "Hai... I... I would like that very much."
Keiichi coughed, breaking the moment, nice as it was. Belldandy looked up at the clock and saw it was getting near dinner time.
"Time to start dinner," she declared. "What would you like?"
"I have an idea," he said, taking her hand. "How about we take it easy tonight? We could order take-out and rent a movie."
Belldandy had to admit the idea was appealing. She was tired from moving boxes and unpacking all day. Not having the powers of an all-mighty being did have downsides. "That sounds wonderful," she said.
He smiled. "Okay. I'll run downstairs and rent something, and you order the food."
"Hai!"
"What would you like to see?" he asked.
Her smile lit up the room. "Something where the boy gets the girl in the end," she said, embracing him.
He squeezed her and kissed her forehead. "Sounds good to me." Releasing her from the embrace, he grabbed his keys and wallet and started for the door.
For the two mortals, Destiny had returned to its proper track. It never really mattered how the two were together, just as long as they were. Belldandy had been right. The past was prologue. Everything they had done in the other timelines led to this. After three years of constant challenge, they could finally let their love bloom. Things had returned to normal...
Belldandy watched him walk out and picked up the phone. Humming happily, she dialed the number for the Chinese delivery place down the street. She heard someone pick up on the other end.
"Hello, I..."
"Hi Hi!" she heard a familiar voice call out. "You've reached the Earth Help Center! Fortunately for you, you have been selected to receive a wish from a goddess! I shall be there shortly to discuss your needs, so please wait one moment!"
The person hung up.
Belldandy stood there, wide-eyed.
"Oh no," she breathed. Hearing a rattle nearby, she turned and saw the camera Keiichi had recently bought from Megumi starting to glow. The lens cap popped off, and a figure bathed in light rose from the camera's lens as Belldandy looked on in horrified realization.
Well... normal for THEM, anyway...
888
Aurora closed the binder with Oracle's latest draft of the script and narrowed her eyes at her sister, who sat in her chair, casually knitting with a knowing smile on her face.
"You... are a cold, evil goddess," Aurora noted.
Oracle stopped knitting and looked up at her little sister innocently. "Am I?"
"I thought you were going to cut them some slack?" Aurora asked accusingly.
"How would that be funny?" Oracle countered.
Not knowing how to respond to that, Aurora gave up. "I'm taking a bath, drinking some cocoa and going to bed."
"Oh, don't be angry, Aurora!" Oracle begged with a smile. "Just because I'm rooting for them doesn't mean they get to have it easy!"
The Dawn didn't answer. Oracle heard the bathroom door slam and sighed. Returning to her knitting, she quietly whispered to herself.
"And they all lived happily ever after.... for the most part... the..."
... END
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Well, that's the end of Second Dawn. I hope you liked it. And despite my inclination to rush right into a brand new exciting fic the way WillZ wants me to... I did promise to finish Choix, so that's the plan until either I deploy or I get distracted by a bright, shiny, NEW fic idea....
Which, I have to admit, is pretty freaking likely.
Special thanks go out to my prereaders, WillZ (who never met an opportunity to add a lesbian relationship to a fic he didn't like) and my wife, SethraK (whose mighty Grammar Mallet, Gramjolnir, cut the number of commas and exclamation points in this fic down to about 500 from its starting point at 1.7 billion.)
Since Yumi Touma did it at the end of her book, I feel inclined... no, ENTITLED... to do the same. So here's some of the music that helped inspire this fic.
"Hope Has a Place" - Enya
"Sanvean" - Sarah Brightman
"(You're the) Devil in Disguise" - Elvis Presley
"Mad World" - Gary Jules
"Walking Through the Empty Age" - Yoko Ishida
"Joey" - Concrete Blonde
"One of These Days" - Michelle Branch
"Landslide" - Stevie Nicks
"The Man Comes Around" - Johnny Cash
