A/N: I know, long time no update, that's because this fiction is slightly harder to write than other ones I'm working on, hence the time it takes between updates.

I don't own Ah! My Goddess.

Chapter 10

I never had a clue about the truth…

In the heavens, people worry that an angel can overtake its host if the goddess is not strong enough, and that was a fear that I never knew about. However, I never had to worry about that. Noble Scarlet loved me, even if we did get into fights. I thought that even after she came back, we would be able to figure out our differences on our own, but, that wasn't exactly the case.

I now understand that the reason we fought so much was because I didn't see Noble Scarlet as my innermost soul. I saw her as a separate thing, my angel…the other part of myself…and not my truest self. When goddesses are young, they make the separation between themselves and their angels because it's better for them to do so. It's safer, and easier to maintain control of the powers that flow through us.

The truth of the matter is, we are the angels.

That egg that we swallow, that's us…our most true self. The goddess is just the program we use to enact our duties…it's the dimensional vessel that allows us to contort and change our nature. How we look, how we act, and even how we control the elements. It's a complex dynamic that is protected and enacted by the system force.

The seals atop a goddesses face are only there during youth, and it seals the soul away from the body…that is to say, that when we attain enlightenment of the highest form, the seals break, and the goddess and angel become one unified entity. A divinity unlike any other.

Not all gods and goddesses can become that enlightened, not all ascend to the greatest heights, but those that can, become amazingly powerful. They are the ones that govern the heavens and earth with the best abilities possible. Those who attain the best of enlightenment not only lose their seals, they merge with the almighty one, able to commune with the system force directly.

They can bend it to their will, if they so choose, even though most would choose never to try.

Back then, I didn't have a clue about any of that, I was blinded by my own youth.

I never knew why the system force was so powerful, why the almighty knew all, felt all, saw all…but, now I do…the almighty is the all of creation…the light side of creation itself…and, there is a dark side, a side mirrored by the devils, and with their system the selfsame as ours, I have no doubts that somehow, they too, reach a higher plain of understanding.

It is such balance that keep the universe in constant motion, even when the shares are out of line, or there are bugs within the system. The truth is, we don't really need the system force at all, we use it simply because it makes the whole of creation easier to maintain.

-Skuld, the book keeper. Norn of the future. Goddess first class, specialization foresight, unlimited license. Enlisted goddess, in service to the special operations unit.

"Bell…"
"Hey, Belldandy, you okay?"
"Belldandy!"

"Huh?" She awoke with a start, having dozed off at her desk. "Oh, yes, I'm fine Chihiro."

"Could have fooled me." The denim clad woman grinned. "Are you sure you should be working today, you look out of it." She pulled off her glove and felt Belldandy's forehead. "Well, no sign of a fever, but you sure don't look well."

"I'll be alright, really." Although, now Belldandy was starting to doubt herself. "I've just been out of sorts recently, that's all."

"Keiichi will be pretty pissed if he found out you went to work totally drained." She pulled up a chair, sitting on it backwards as she leaned on the backrest with her arms. "So, care to dish?"

"There's nothing to say about it." Belldandy murmured shyly as she returned to her work at the computer. "I've just felt very tired recently."

"You haven't been eating much either." Chihiro noted with a sly grin that masked her worry. "You've skipped lunch twice this week. Have you lost your appetite or something?"

"My stomach doesn't agree with me sometimes, I'm afraid." She said, but still offered a smile. "This is one of those times, I think. Perhaps a flu of some nature, though, I don't feel quite that bad."

"Uh-huh, and what part of that made it seem like you should come into work?" Chihiro deadpanned with a confused shake of her head. "You're going home, and getting some rest. That's what you're going to do."

"It's not even noon." Belldandy protested as she glanced to the clock. "We always get busy with the campus students during their lunch hours."

"I can deal with it. Trust me, I used to work on the tracks, I'm good with time crunching." Then, she gave Belldandy a pointed look. "What I can't deal with, is watching you collapse the computer screen one more time this week. Take a few days off and try to get better."

"I really don't see the need." Belldandy said, before her friend's deep sigh cut her off.

"Look Bell, I don't really care one way or the other if you stay here." Chihiro said slowly, with careful meaning as she got her tools in order. "But, Keiichi will care, and he's not going to like it if I have to call him up and tell him that you've overdone it."

She knew that being tired and achy were sighs of coming down with a cold, as that was how most humans began to show signs of illness. A loss of appetite here, a bit of nausea there, even the headaches that would be accompanied by restlessness and a loss of sleep…all of those thing could indicate a true, airborne illness caught at any inopportune time.

Still, Belldandy felt off, and simply didn't feel right. She finally relented. "Okay, I'll go home and rest." She said as she took her car keys off of the little hook she had them on, making her way out the door and heading home, contemplating Chihiro's words.

She knew she wasn't particularly sick, but, she also knew that for some odd reason, she had been on the receiving end of more than one stare. It was as if she were a ticking time bomb about to explode. At first, she thought it was due to her slight crabbiness that remained a mystery to even herself, and chalked it up to not getting enough sleep. Then she thought it was because Keiichi could be projecting his feelings openly, and the goddesses merely looked to her as the root cause of it.

That too, she assumed, would be a likely reason.

Somehow though, she knew. Instinctively, she understood that what was wrong with her was distinctly not an illness, and had very little to do with Keiichi's often strong and liberal outpour of emotions. No, this was something different more delicate and yet, unusually abstract.

She had waited a while, of course, until one day both her afternoon lunch and the late dinner she had decided to disagree with her.

"Bell…" It was dark in the house when Keiichi had woken up from his slumber seeing that his wife had gone missing. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he forced himself to stand and find out where she'd gone off to. He didn't have to make it very far since the bathroom light glowed. The door was cracked open. "Bell, are you okay?" He asked quietly, wincing when he heard a very unladylike retching sound a moment later.

"Yes Keiichi, I believe so." She answered weakly from behind the door as she flushed the toilet. "It's just a little indigestion, I'm sure. You should go back to sleep."

The man wasn't convinced, and he leaned on the wall trying to be as quiet as possible. "Bell, you've been pushing yourself, haven't you?"

"I haven't." She said, opening the door to at least offer him a smile before she turned to the sink to brush her teeth. "I've just been a little off."

"Mortals don't just feel 'off' for a few weeks for no good reason, Bell." He said, still worried as he crossed his arms. "You're not getting sick, are you?" He looked out of the corner of his eye, where he could tell someone was eavesdropping. Ignoring them, he turned back to his wife. "I can call a doctor if you want."

"Chihiro asked me the same thing." She told him after rinsing her mouth free of toothpaste. "Do I look truly appear ill?"

"Belldandy…" Keiichi said softly as he embraced her, knowing that defensive edge in her tone anywhere. "I know better than to answer that question…but I don't think you appear ill, I just think something's going on, and maybe we need to…" He trailed off and cringed when he felt his wife shake with silent tears. "Belldandy?"

"I'm fine, Keiichi." She murmured, a distant thought entering her mind. Then she knew, she had to talk to Urd the very next day.

"There's no question about it." Her sister had said without even needing to search Belldandy's person at all. She could feel the start of another human soul taking root in the house. "There's definitely another entity here, and it is without a doubt mortal."

"Can you decipher a gender?" Belldandy asked, but Urd shook her head.

"Too soon." Urd said when she closed her eyes, trying to see if she could tell anything at all, but found herself lacking anything useful. "The wavelength is healthy. The soul is stable, and seems to be doing just fine." Anything more than that became unclear. "I'm sure they know everything there is to know." Urd said as she casually pointed upwards to the heavens. "I'm a bit more limited in what I can drag into my range of perception." Then an idea struck her. "Ask Aphrodite, she'd know in an instant."

"She wouldn't answer. She can't say much, I'm sure." Belldandy said, her fingers gently drumming on her belly. "You don't suppose Keiichi would object to having the baby here at the shrine, do you?"

"I don't see why not." Urd replied with a shrug. "Goddesses do the same. Besides, how else would the child be blessed by the heavens?"

"It won't be a child of the heavens, Urd." Belldandy said a bit sadly. "I chose to be human, and thus, this child will be mortal."

"Yes, I suppose that's true, isn't it." Urd shook her head, it was pointless to think of things that way. "Well, Skuld and I will be here for you, whatever choice you make is fine with me."

…

Word tended to spread like a wild fire, and if one so much as mentioned the goddess turned mere mortal, the murmurs were like a tidal wave spreading about the room so fast, there was no containing it.

News of that sort always welcomed good cheer and merriment, even though some whished that Frigga, a most exuberant goddess, would never listen to reason. For all of her wisdom and unquestionable expertise, she was indeed a flighty woman when joy overtook her. Unfortunately for the peoples of heaven, it was quite an easy task when her grandchildren were involved. If the peoples had one tall tale to speak of about Frigga, they had a million, none in the least that she was a goddess of pure candor.

The greater creation however, seemed not at all bothered by the woman who tormented the seers on a daily basis.

"Don't go getting your petticoat all in a knot. I didn't come knocking to get you into a tizzy." Bastet sighed as she blinked away the light that had been shining in her face. A crystal orb that had been focused on Belldandy and Keiichi would not permit her to see anything beyond a pure white magical block out. As she was not a seer, she didn't bother with it. "By the looks of it, you would have made the discovery in your own good time anyway."

"My grandbaby is having a baby." Frigga said breathlessly, her utter joy at the mere idea made those around her sigh at length. "Oh, I do hope the young one is inclined to be a little girl! It suits the family to carry on, the men of the bloodline simply don't retain the same wherewithal, nor the looks. Belldandy's image would be wasted on a son."

"Almighty who we serve, why did I come back here?" Bastet cursed, shaking her head as she looked to her good friend, and fellow goddess to the Egyptian wing of the court, Neith. "Smack some future into her or something, she's lost her bloody mind!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm a weaver of fate and a water deity?" Neith sighed, put out by her good friend. "I'm not a seer, Bastet. I'm a weaver of the fates themselves. I'm not permitted to say anything of what I spin on fate's string, you know that." Then when Frigga looked to Neith in question, the huntress shook her head without giving in. "Almighty would have my head on a silver platter, I'll speak not a word…"

"But Neith, that's too evil, even for you." Frigga cried out, feeling as though her friends were leaving her out of the loop. "Surely you must know how much this means to me. I simply must hear the details about this little joy bestowed upon Belldandy."

"Not a word, Frigga." Neith said shaking her head. "Not a one single- hey! Get out of my weaving supplies!" She said, chasing the now erratic goddess away from the truths creation was not yet ready to know about. "Now listen, you know if you snoop, you'll poison the timeline."

"I must know!" Frigga lamented, as she caressed the glowing orb in front of her. "Oh, this is ridiculous. You know of her condition. How is she?"

"Pregnant Frigga." Bastet growled with a roll of her eyes. "How else would she be?"

"I would know if you gave me a proper report!" The stare down was an intense one, sending ripples of strong magic flowing through the room, and even permeating the outside walls.

"What is all the ruckus in here?" Boomed Odin as he came storming through the back chambers of the weaver's personal workspace, surprised to see the anger and hurt in his wife's eyes. "Uh-oh…perhaps I dare not ask…" He amended as he stood there clueless and subdued by the women of the room. Absently, he stroked his beard for a lack of a better thing to do, unsure if he should say anything more.

"Belldandy is soon to be with child." Frigga announced as she all but shoved the crystal ball to his nose, as if that somehow helped his poor eyesight. "She has been blessed by creation to receive its good fortune!"

"So I see." He grumbled, not particularly impressed by the news, as it was normal to expect such a thing. He had directed the council to do so, had he not? He merely shook his head. "And this is the cause for disrupting a meeting of the war council?" He asked incredulously, almost sure that he had heard wrong. "They seek the aid of seers, only to be interrupted because you women can't keep your wits about you?!"

"Apparently." Neith sighed, feeling just as frazzled as Odin. She was unsure just why such a burden fell upon her. She didn't share a bond with Frigga, as some of the other goddesses did. Neith did however, highly respect Odin. "It's a good enough reason to poison my weaving at any rate."

"Isn't anyone elated to hear this news?" Frigga asked with her hands on her hips, now upset by the deadpanned looks she received.

An owl flew by and took a perch on a nearby cloak hanger as Minerva came into the now packed weaving room. She could tell by the looks of the place, and by the looks of the immortals among her, that she was too late to quell the whirlwind that was Frigga on a good day. "Care to tell me why the war council just left the hall grumbling with dissatisfaction?"

"Belldandy is pregnant, and my wife is acting like a lunatic." Odin muttered, thankful he could only see out of one eye as he closed it to block out the world around him.

Minerva paused as she licked her lips in contemplation to this. "Oh." She managed to force through her confusion in the matter. "Well, I suppose now that you've snooped around, I should phone Anzasu and tell her the good news."

"You too, Minerva?" Frigga sighed dejectedly.

"I'm a seer." Minerva said, having already predicted such a response. "Hera and I knew about this four years ago…we were simply awaiting Neith's confirmation."

"You all conspire against me…how trite!" Frigga rolled her eyes with dismay, as she smiled at the crystal ball again. "But little Belldandy, having a child of her very own. It's so wonderful, I can hardly contain myself."

"For the sake of my sanity, please do try. Now then, if you'll pardon me ladies, I have other places I should be." Odin shook his head and left the room, ignoring how his wife tittered on in merriment…it was simply something he didn't trouble himself with, because his desires had gone as expected. He muttered to himself, lost within his own thought.

The women watched him leave, before Neith and Bastet shared a sigh. It was however, the latter who spoke with a soft yet stern air about her. "Interrupting the war council isn't exactly a good way to appease the men in charge of the combat unit."

"Agreed, we should also stay calm for the sake of creation, too." Minerva added with a roll of her eyes. "Frigga, my dear friend, it is a great joy, I agree. However, we must keep our wits about us, you most of all. The council will expect of you to maintain your dignity, lest we forget."

"I won't forget my composure." Frigga said with a shake of her head. "Now then, I must prepare gifts! Will it be a boy, or a girl?" She asked, trying to pry into Neith's weaving once again.

Minerva frowned, and thankfully, Hera came to the rescue, Juno not far behind.

"Frigga, please." Hera, a goddess of the pantheon said with a small smile as she entered with measured grace. "Do try to understand, Belldandy can't possibly receive your gifts." She held her good friend's hands within her own, trying to offer as much strength as could be afforded. She knew well of the difficulties. "She is a mortal woman, and you mustn't spoil her, or her mortal children. They must have a fair life, surely you agree."

"I will not be permitted to see them?" Frigga murmured, tears at the edges of her eyes. "I will not be permitted to even hold my great grandchild? I have been scorned that much?"

"Think of how Anzasu will feel once she hears this news." Juno said bitterly, embracing the now crying goddess from behind. "She isn't permitted either, I fear."

"How can the fates be so cruel?" Frigga asked, pained by the words her friend were forced to say. "How can we be denied?"

"Belldandy has her own life to live, Frigga." Bastet managed to say, even though inwardly she was lamenting that her fur coat was being wet with tears as the goddess wept. "In my time on earth, I have seen her become the mortal we've all hoped she would be, and it is time for her to do as she was intended to do as a woman."

"I merely wish to bestow heaven's grace." Frigga sobbed. "Is that too much, truly?"

"She isn't of the heavens." Juno said quietly. "You can't pretend that she is just because it suits you."

"My daughter will be crushed." Frigga murmured before biting on her lower lip. Her eyes burned with her sadness, and her heart ached at the mere thought.

Hera tried to smile. "I know this isn't much, and I do not know if it would be a scorn, or a gift." She said as she took a special medallion from around her neck. It allowed her to gaze into the lives of the mortals, and she peeped in on the Morisato household every now and then with the trinket, though it was not her only method. "I…I believe my dear friend, that the fates would not mind a small oversight on my behalf." She closed her eyes, even though as a seer, she knew exactly where everything was meant to be, and even things that weren't. She placed the medallion over her friend's head, draping it around her neck. Then she tuned to Neith. "I seem to have misplaced my mirror into the human realm, Neith, might you fashion me another?"

"The two of you, really…" Neith said shaking her head. "I prepared for this." She pointed to the far corner. "Over there, in my drawer…but no more playing around. Beyond this, I want no part of your trouble making ways, you'll have the almighty scorn me if this keeps up."

"Thank you, Neith." Hera said with true gratitude.

"Don't thank me yet." The goddess replied. "I'm still bound to bespeak the truth, and even if you didn't see where you put it, I did. If the almighty asks me where you old medallion wandered off too, I will be unable to say a lie."

…

This was a bad idea…

In fact, it was beyond stupid. Urd knew that, and in yet, despite her greatest efforts, she still kept one of those blasted hotel keys, as if no one would see her in such a location. The truth was different, she knew that. Even so, she could only deal with Mara away from prying eyes. As normal, she brought booze and a deck of cards, but as she sat in the room that was otherwise left to itself, she couldn't help but wonder what her sisters would say about her sudden interest in being alone with demons.

Or, rather one particular demon.

Urd sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror, feeling unsettled about what she knew might happen if she kept this up. She sipped on some sake with newfound weariness and licked her lips, feeling foolish for worrying about keeping up appearances. It was simply Mara she intended to spend her time with, and that wasn't anything new.

Surely, Belldandy knew that such a friendship wasn't something that needed an explanation. Even if her younger sisters didn't trust Mara, they weren't troublesome enough to go prying into the affairs of others. Urd sighed as she felt the demonic aura as soon as Mara entered the room. "Hey, you got here early, huh?"

"You're just late as always." Urd said, unwilling to admit to that fact. "Demons are such a damn pain."

"You said to get here at noon." Mara looked at the clock. "I'm right on time, as punctual as ever."

"So, what stupid ploy does it take to get the game of cards going?" Urd asked as she flicked the deck into existence, each card was perfect and sat neatly on the table. She picked up the top card. "Ace of spades…devil calls." Urd cursed her luck, but didn't flinch. "Truth serum, a bottle or two of sake…a penalty game…how far do you want to play this out?"

"Does it matter?" Mara growled. "Deal the damn cards."

"As you wish." Urd smirked with a flick of her wrist. "So, how are thing in the bowels?" Her magic did it for her as she relaxed in the chair, her fingers thrumming upon the cardboard as she looked at the hand the fates had dealt. She sighed, the two pair she had wouldn't be very fortunate at all.

"Not that you care." Mara muttered as she tossed two cards to take two more.

"True." Urd said and put down her cards, crossing her arms. "I don't care about what goes on down there, Hild's politics be damned. It doesn't mean I don't care about how you like it."

"Eh, it's a way of life, I guess." Mara frowned, lifting her eyebrow in confusion. "I'm not really supposed to be telling you about that, even if it's generic."

"She wants me to come home, and she'll do anything to make that happen." Urd knew that, the demonic blood pumped through her, and it was strong. "I'm not stupid enough to think she'll just let me stay here forever."

Mara sighed. "She wants you to be happy."

"As a demon?" Urd shot back.

"As your mother." Mara hissed. "You know, demons can care about their offspring, we don't just devour them as the heavens say."

"You're one to talk." Urd smirked. "Didn't you eat your little brother?"

"For the last time, he was my cousin, twice removed." Mara groused indignantly. "It was an accident."

"Still ate him." Urd replied with a shrug. "You can defend it all you want, but I still know the truth. Demons can't possibly care for their children, it's not in them to have that instinct."

"Our dark lady cares deeply for you." Mara murmured. "A lot of demons care about you, because you're the daughter of our queen. You don't realize the kind of loyalty that gives you."

"I don't want that kind of idiotic mindless following." Urd bit out. "Besides, I have no desire to be a demon, nor take the throne as a demon might expect that I might." She sorted the cards in her hands before sighing, placing them on the table face down, crossing her arms. "That's the problem with everything, everyone expects too much, myself included."