Disclaimer:
Ah! My Goddess and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Chapter Nine: Wish Granted!
Cincinnati – Baxters Pub and Treats, August 8, 3:14 am...
"That took a little longer than I thought it would." Keiichi remarked, finally glad to be done with the teleportation journey.
"It wouldn't have taken so long if we all had one common direction." Urd grumbled, also glad to be done traveling.
"So now what? It's the middle of the night here...and we're in a restaurant bathroom...a closed restaurant." Megumi commented.
"We go outside. Skuld is obviously still not here, but we know we're close to her." Belldandy said cheerfully. "We just have to be patient."
Interstate 71 North, 35 north of Cincinnati, August 8, 3:15 am...
Skuld looked at Terry with an evil stare.
"What are you lookin' at?" Terry said angrily, staring back at Skuld.
"Where are you taking us?" She said dangerously.
"Why should you care? When we get there, we're going to have some fun with you." Terry said, putting his hand on her knee, riding it upward along her skin.
"Stop it!" Skuld yelled and tried to shift her body away from Terry's hand. Terry grinned wickedly seeing the young girl squirm.
"Sounds like Terry is getting fresh with the girl back there Jeff." Andy commented gazing back through the cage.
"Relax lover boy....there's going to be plenty of time for that at the beach." Jeff said firmly.
"I'm just messin' with her, Jeff. – You said to --" He began explaining.
"I know what I said." Jeff snapped back. "And you'll have plenty of time to screw with her when we get there."
'Screw with me?' Skuld shivered at the thoughts her brain dreamed up that he'd do with her. Then without another though, Skuld spit on Terry.
"Why you little –" Terry grumbled but Jeff cut him off.
"Knock it off." he said frustrated as he pulled into an empty parking lot. The two men in the front got out of the van and opened up the back doors. Terry tossed Skuld out onto the asphalt and then threw Dirk out next to her. Andy picked up Dirk and slung him over his shoulder, while Terry hopped out and shut the doors behind him, then picked up Skuld, dragging her behind him by her hair.
"Ow! Stop!!" Skuld cried in pain, staggering behind Terry.
"Shut up." Terry tossed back at Skuld, now dragging her in the cool tan sand by her wrists. Andy dropped Dirk at the edge of the beach. Tiny waves coming off the lake gently splashed not too far away. Terry whipped Skuld around him, tossing her onto the ground next to Dirk.
"Now..." Jeff began, staring right at Skuld, grinning. "it's time for some payback." He walked up to Dirk and kicked him square in the chest, his conscienceless body didn't respond. Terry knocked Skuld down onto the ground, pressing his boot into her chest. She looked up at the midnight sky, seeing the big dipper and Orion staring back down at her. The next thing she felt was a hand feeling her along her chest.
"Stop!" Skuld cried out squirming helplessly in the sand. She closed her eyes wishing that he she could just throw the man off her, and bury his face in the sand. Moments later, a thirty foot wave came crashing down on the group, Terry was thrown off of Skuld, and rammed into the beach face first, while Jeff and Andy were swept far up land. The riptide pulled Skuld helplessly into the lake.
Dirk abruptly woke up hearing Skuld's cries for help after the splash of cool water drenched him. He looked around to see Skuld being pulled towards the middle of the lake, while the three men were confused and scrambling around. Seeing that they were distracted, he groaned as he lifted himself to his feet and stumbled into the water. Once the water was up to his waist, he dove in and began swimming out to Skuld, who had now fallen below the waterline.
Dirk swam out to where he last saw Skuld's head bobbing in the current, and then dove downwards. Grains of floating sand burned his eyes as he blindly searched the mucky water waving his hands out in front of him. Running out of air, he was forced to the surface. Once there, he gasped for a deep breath of air, and dove back down into the brown water. Diving even deeper than before, he scoured the water, reaching the rocky bottom he found a lock of hair dancing delicately in the current. He followed the hair until he found her head, and then grabbed her around her chest, and tried to lift her up. Her feet were snagged by some seaweeds, halting his ascension.
Dirk cursed, bubbles escaped out of his mouth as he found the tangle and yanked on the weeds, freeing Skuld's body. With all of his might, he kicked his feet slowly rising to the top. Once there he again gasped for air and swam with Skuld tucked under his arm to the closest shore. Dirk tripped on a rock and the pair went flying into some bushes, but that didn't stall Dirk too long. Panicking, he laid Skuld on her back and mumbled. "I wish I learned how to do CPR!"
Dirk thought back to the many movies he's seen and gently placed his hands on Skuld's chest. He pressed down, fearing he'd break her ribs if he put too much pressure on her. He counted "One, Two, Three, Four, Five." Pushing down with each number. Then he pinched her nose shut with his fingers and took a deep breath, blowing it into her limp mouth. Seeing that it had no effect, he again tried compressing on her chest. "One, Two, Three, Four, Five!" Again, he blow into her mouth. A moment later, Skuld spewed up a bucket worth of water and coughed, chocking on the water. Quickly Dirk turned Skuld onto her side to let the water escape from her throat. He propped up Skuld, pushing her up on her back, and once she sat up, he brushed the wet strands of hair away from her face.
"I wish you'd never leave my side again." Dirk said smiling gently.
Yggdrasil - Latitude: 39.512234N, Longitude 84.011765W 3:52:24 am...
The control room to Yggdrasil was only minimally staffed. A goddess clerk noticed on a nearby monitor a message flashed,
"Incoming wish request, granter: Goddess Skuld, Second Class, Restricted license."
Under that very console was a white bunny-rabbit looking thing with eight legs chewing on some exposed wires. Electricity sparked, zapping the bug. The stench of burning fur filled the room.
"We got another bug!" the clerk called out, pushing on a nearby button, ignoring the console.
"Granter is sibling to Goddess First Class, Belldandy, Unrestricted license. Incoming request granted." The terminal displayed, and circuits connected through out the vast tree. Moments later down on Earth...
Belldandy was crotched down on the ground showing a holographic image of Skuld to a chipmunk when she abruptly stood up. A brilliant narrow blue beam ascended from her forehead and reached into the heavens.
"I – I didn't do it this time!" Keiichi stuttered and defended himself holding his hands out in front of him, beads of sweat glistened on his forehead under the moonlight.
"Didn't do … what?" Megumi asked hesitatingly, looking right into Keiichi's eyes.
"Made a wish." Urd answered for him. Moments later Belldandy collapsed to the ground. Keiichi rushed to her side.
"A wish? Like what K did three years ago?" Megumi inquired.
"Exactly." Urd answered plainly. "Somebody here made a wish."
"Oh." Megumi said.
"Did you?" Keiichi turned back and stared Megumi in her eyes.
"Um.. no?" She answered.
"You didn't say 'I wish...' anything?" Keiichi accused.
"No!" Megumi defended.
A few moments later another narrow blue beam descended from the heavens, but instead of hitting Belldandy, it seemed to hit the ground about twenty miles away.
"This just got interesting." Urd said grinning.
"She's that way." Belldandy said, breathing heavily, pointing towards the descending blue beam. Rind smiled. "Come on. Let's go. Everybody join hands." She commanded.
Belldandy joined hands with Keiichi, who held Megumi's hands. Urd grabbed hands between Rind and Megumi, finally Rind clasped Belldandy's hand. A second later a lightning bolt struck the ground where they stood, after which, the group was gone.
A bright blue beam struck Skuld on her forehead. For a fraction of a second, her blue teardrops visibly glowed. After the beam finished, they vanished once again, and Skuld gasped for air. Her whole body tingled. A second later, Skuld passed out.
"What was that?" Andy said, watching the blue beam hit the shore not too far away from where he stood.
"Let's go check it out." Jeff directed, and began walking towards the impact.
"Come on. We gotta get out of here." Dirk said gently. He helped Skuld up onto her feet and the pair of them ran though the woods snapping saplings and twigs with their bodies.
A grand lighting bolt struck the ground about twenty feet away from where Skuld was moments ago. After the light vanished, four goddesses and two mortals stood in its place.
"She's gotta be close." Rind remarked. Not so much as a few seconds passed, when Jeff, Andy, and Terry made their way through the tree line to the new shore.
"You!" Belldandy glared. A violent wind picked up in the background. Small tree limbs broke from their tree bodies and flew around in the turbulence.
"Bell, not now, please." Rind suggested. "First we need to find Skuld."
The three men turned tail and ran the other way through the trees back towards the white cargo van. Meanwhile, Urd flew up into the sky to see what she could observe.
"I – I need to stop." Skuld panted heavily between words. Dirk acknowledged her request and the two sat down next to a large maple tree.
"I think we lost them. We should be safe for a little while." He said. Skuld nodded while taking a deep breath.
"I'll go collect some twigs so we can get a little warmer, okay?" Dirk said as he rested against against the tree, his leg touching hers. He tried to get up, but noticed his leg wouldn't move.
"What's wrong?" Skuld asked, seeing him struggle.
"I don't know. I can't move my leg...it's like it's asleep or something." Dirk remarked.
Skuld reached out with her arm, which Dirk grabbed and helped pull her upright. Dirk's leg moved.
"That's like weird." Dirk said, and now noticed he couldn't let go of her hand. "I – uh... can't let go of you." Dirk laughed nervously.
"That's so sweet." Skuld replied smiling. Dirk returned her smile, which quickly turned to a frown.
"I mean it. I can't let go of you." He said, tugging on her arm. Skuld continued smiling thinking he was pulling her leg, and tried let go of his hand just to humor him. She couldn't let go either.
"What?" Skuld said, her face had the most remarkable puzzled look on it. "So like we're stuck together?" she thought out loud.
"It looks like it." Dirk replied.
"What are we going to do?" Skuld asked.
"I don't know for now. I do have an idea though." He said and took a step closer and wrapped his other arm around Skuld's back, giving her a full embrace.
"It's a nice night out, and... it'd be a shame to waste the starlight view." He said softly. "I never want to loose you … I mean... we've only known each other for a few hours... and …. I feel so.... comfortable with you around...and that's never happened to me before with a girl." Dirk's voice was trembling, yet he had a certain confidence about him.
Had it been any brighter out, Skuld would have seen him blushing. Skuld smiled at the revelation, and embraced him back with both of her arms, finding that she could now free her hand from his grip. Her eyes shined with innocence under the pale moon light, and she took each breath long and slow. Dirk felt her warmth as she pressed against his shirt, and ever so slightly, he noticed the aroma of lavender again.
"Do you smell that?" Dirk asked softly.
"Smell what?"
"Lavender. It's so sweet...so calming."
Skuld inhaled deeply and smiled looking up into Dirk's eyes. "Yes, yes I do." She closed her eyes for a moment and grinned strongly. Softly she whispered, "I think we belong together."
"You believe in fate?" Dirk asked.
"I don't know, but I do know that it feels right being with you."
Dirk smiled. A girl he had only met hours earlier truly wanted to be with him, not because she had to, but because she wanted to. He felt a special warmth course through his body. He closed his eyes and mustered up some courage. Opening his eyes, he slowly pressed his lips against hers. To his surprise, she pressed back just as gently. Seconds seemed like an eternity and when they finally separated, Dirk tingled with excitement.
"Wow. That was truly amazing. I never kissed a girl before." he admitted.
"Did you like it?" She asked feeling a bit insecure.
"Yes. Very much. It was wonderful. I think I'll treasure it always." Dirk said smiling. Skuld returned his smile with a smile, and blushing a brilliant shade of red even Dirk could see under the moon light.
"We should probably rest for a little while." Dirk suggested.
"Okay." Skuld replied.
"I'd like to do that... holding thing we did earlier." He admitted. Skuld turned her body around so her back was facing he chest, and both of them flopped to the ground. Skuld sat in between Dirk's outstretched legs, and rested her head under his chin.
"I think it's going to take a while to get used to this....uh...condition we have." Dirk said feeling that his butt was now sore after landing on a root.
"Maybe whatever this is will go away?" Skuld replied. " --- not that I want it to. I feel cozy and safe right now." she tacked on.
"I like it too." Dirk whispered.
Skuld's breathing was slow and steady, and the aroma of fresh lavender filled the air. It wasn't too long before Dirk had fallen asleep as well. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.
"I don't see her. She can't be too far though." Urd said coming down from the sky.
"I know she's near." Belldandy said. "I feel her …. she feels... safe." Belldandy confessed.
"How do you know what's she's feeling?" Keiichi asked, still not quite comfortable with the idea of the three sisters having this link between them.
"She is really close. … and the feelings she has right now is very strong." Belldandy explained.
"Maybe we should set up a camp for the remainder of the night?" Megumi suggested feeling the chilly breeze off the lake.
"That's a good idea." Urd said giving Keiichi that look. The look that she'd always give him when it was a good time to make a move on her younger sister. This time, Skuld wasn't around to interfere, so it was almost perfect.
"What about a tent? Sleeping bags? Food??" Keiichi listed the various things he was used to having on a camping trip.
"We shall be fine Keiichi." Belldandy said cheerfully. She was very optimistic that tomorrow she would find Skuld and they could all go back to the Temple again.
"Go on Keiichi. Be a man!" Megumi whispered from behind him, nearly scaring him to death. "There's a nice secluded spot over there." She said seductively.
"Meg, not now." Keiichi chastised.
"You're hopeless K." Megumi shouted back.
"What's wrong?" Belldandy asked.
"Huh? Oh... um...nothing Bell." Megumi lied.
"I'm going to get some firewood." Keiichi said firmly and walked off towards the tree line.
"What's wrong with him?" Rind asked noticing the tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife. Urd pulled Rind over to the side and whispered, "This is a good time for Keiichi to .. well.. be a man.. and comfort Belldandy with some romance. … but as usual, he's being a chicken."
"Oh." Rind said exhaling. "Perhaps I should help collect some wood then." She volunteered and walked off after him.
"You know, it's not like me to interfere in one's romantic life." Rind said finally catching up to Keiichi.
"Oh, not you too." Keiichi whined.
"Do not worry. I don't plan on interfering. Only to offer a suggestion." Rind said as she squatted down to pick up a rather large hunk of deadwood.
"What's that?" Keiichi turned to the goddess.
"Belldandy needs you now.... more than ever." Rind said looking right into Keiichi's brown eyes.
"You know, I don't think you realize just how close Belldandy is to Skuld."
"They are sisters." Keiichi pointed out the obvious but completely missed the point.
"Did Belldandy ever tell you what happened to their mother?" Rind asked.
"No." Keiichi responded.
"I'll let her explain it if she wants. What's more important is the fact that she raised Skuld by herself for the most part. – Don't get me wrong, Urd was there too, but it was Belldandy who wiped her nose, cleaned her cuts, made sure she had plenty to eat, and gave her the kind of love that only a mother is supposed to show her children." Rind explained.
"So.. Skuld is more like ..." his voice trailed off to a whisper, "her daughter?" Keiichi looked right up and into Rind's eyes.
"Yes." Rind answered. "Technically, they are sisters indeed, but their love for one another is a much stronger bond."
"So... she's taking this harder than she's letting on." Keiichi put the pieces together, as if a light bulb lit up above his head.
"Yes." Rind replied. "She hides her own emotions very well. …. It comes with the job I guess."
"So, what should I do?" Keiichi asked.
"I've never been any good at romance myself... but if it were me...." She pondered for a moment. "A hug would be a welcome gesture." She turned and walked back towards the beach carrying a pile of small branches. Keiichi leaned up against a tree and thought for a moment. He whispered to himself, "I can do this.", and smiled. Then he walked back to the beach himself.
"I summon LIGHTNING!" Urd exclaimed with her hands held above her head. A white lightning bolt struck the ground, igniting a large pile of wood.
"Wasn't that a little dramatic?" Peorth said plainly.
"You think so?" Urd snapped back. "Too bad."
"Show off." Peorth replied back.
Keiichi spotted Belldandy as she was fixing up some grass to sleep on . Confidently he walked up to Belldandy and stopped right behind her.
"Um, Belldandy?" He said, his voice trembled slightly.
"Yes? Hi Keiichi!" Belldandy smiled as she turned to face him.
Without further delay, Keiichi wrapped his arms around Belldandy, taking her by surprise. "Oh!"
"I thought you could use that." Keiichi said braking the embrace.
"I'm glad you did Keiichi." Belldandy said and resumed her cleaning, smiling to herself.