Disclaimer: I do not own Oh My Goddess. I just enjoy reading it.
-oOoOoOo-
Mara grinned as she decided to pull out an old gag.
"Pleasant dreams, Morisato..." Mara said to herself as she bwegan weaving her magic from the abandoned arcade.
-oOo-
In Keiichi's dream, Belldandy and Keiichi were back at the temple, having Breakfast. When all of a sudden, Tamiya and Otaki busted in the room.
"Keiichi, we need you to compete in a challenge we just made with Aoshima!" Otaki said.
With a great amount of nervousness, Keiichi asked, "What did you guys agree on?"
"A Blindfolded motorcycle obstacle course!" Tamiya crowed, puffing out his chest.
Moments passed before Keiichi said, "I-I'm going to have to pass on it."
Belldandy then got up and said with tears in her eyes. "Keiichi, because you did not meet a challenge that was put before you, I am required to leave."
She then ran out the room. When Keiichi tried following her, he was unable to find her. When he checked Belldandy's room, Skuld's room, and Urd's room, all evidence of the goddesses living there was gone.
-oOo-
Keiichi immediately woke up and sat up in fear. Seeing that it was still night, he slapped his face a few times to make sure he was really awake. He slowly stood up and then quietly crept around, taking a look into the rooms of the goddesses. He smiled as he saw they were in their rooms and then quietly went back into his own room.
But as he crawled back into his bed and began falling back asleep, Mara grinned.
'Why settle for one, when you can have two?' Mara thought. 'I'm sooo generous...'
-oOo-
In his second dream, Keiichi and Chihiro were riding on a stagecoach into a old western-styled town. Above the doors of the stagecoach was the word, "Whirlwind".
Keiichi was wearing canvas trousers, a cotton shirt, a cowboy hat and a serape. Currently, he was the stage driver and was guiding the stagecoach. Riding shotgun was Chihiro, who was wearing something similar to Keiichi.
"Well, we can stop here for a day or two and we'll still be on time," Chihiro said.
"Good, I have someone to see and try to get to join us." Keiichi said.
"Are they a good cook?" Chihiro asked.
"One of the best, if not the best..." Keiichi replied, as he brought the stagecoach to a stop.
"I have no complaints then," Chihiro replied.
Before Keiichi could say anything more, someone yelled, "Hey you! On the Whirlwind stagecoach!"
Keiichi looked in the direction of the voice.
The owner of the voice was some kinda handsome guy who had the marks of a second-class god on his face. He was wearing some black clothes that looked like something out of a western parody.
"What do you want?" Keiichi asked, as he got off the stagecoach.
"I wanna challenge you to a gunfight! Right here and Right now!" The challenger yelled.
"I'm going to have to refuse," Keiichi said.
"Oh no..." A quiet, yet shocked voice said from above.
Keiichi looked up and saw Belldandy standing by a window on the second floor of a building. She was dressed in an Edwardian Ensemble. She had her mouth covered by her hands in shock.
"I... I... I'm sorry, but I must go..." Belldandy said, before rushing out of view. Keiichi heard the telltale sound of the Belldandy going through a mirror.
"Damn! Guess the great Dionysus is gonna just settle for killing you!" The challenger said, making Keiichi look back at him. Dionysus quickly took out his pistol. Before Keiichi could do anything, Dionysus pulled the trigger. The dream ended with the sound of a bang.
-oOo-
Keiichi shot up and almost screamed. As he took a few breaths, he looked around his room and saw that it was morning.
"Keiichi, time for breakfast!" Belldandy called out.
He nodded to himself and slowly got up.
"I'm coming!" Keiichi said.
-oOo-
As he walked into the kitchen, Keiichi overheard Urd's and Skuld's conversation.
"Bullshit. Scrappy saved the series when he appeared and the naysayers merely grew over time. Flim-Flam was far more annoying," Urd said.
"Scrappy was an annoying little twerp!" Skuld replied.
"Aren't you one at times?" Urd asked with a smirk.
Noticing that Keiichi was a bit unnerved by something Belldandy asked, "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah... Yeah... Just had a few bad dreams..." Keiichi said as he sat down.
"Wanna talk them?" Urd asked, as she looked over at Keiichi.
"Maybe later," Keiichi answered.
Wanting to cheer things up, Skuld asked "Should we watch a question?"
"But the tv is in the living room..." Belldandy said.
Skuld snapped her fingers and the Tv rolled into the kitchen.
"Shall we?" Skuld asked.
"Sure..." Keiichi muttered. Belldandy nodded.
Before Skuld could say anything, Urd said, "Let's view the continuing to the first question!"
While the screen turned on and went fuzzy, Skuld glared at Urd.
Keiichi stopped in front of a small diner.
"Most places shut down for the night, but with how some of the pranks that Nekomi tech had done, this place decided to stay open 24 hours and help the police stay alert," Keiichi said, as he pulled in.
"Will they have ice cream?" Skuld asked.
"Maybe, I haven't been here much... So you'd have to ask, but I wouldn't count on it," Keiichi answered, as he and Skuld got off his Beemer and walked in.
The inside of a diner seemed to be themed a little bit towards 50's America, or at least was portrayed in the movie and TV version of the diners of the 50's. It seemed that there was a single worker working. He was a middle aged guy who seemed to be a bit of a night owl. Behind him was a closed opening.
Before Keiichi could say anything, Skuld asked, "Excuse me sir, but you you serve any ice cream?
"Yes, there's a choice between Regular and soft-serve at the moment. There's three flavors; Chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate chip. And if you want,there's also a choice between Chocolate syrup and strawberry syrup," The worker answered as Keiichi and Skuld sat down.
"So no softcream? I was looking towards having Peach..." Keiichi said, feeling a bit dejected.
"My apologies, but we're currently out because of a party that was held last night," The worker said. "But we should be getting re-stocked tomorrow."
"I'd like Chocolate softserve, please," Skuld said. The worker nodded and then looked at Keiichi.
"Wait a minute, I gotta check something," Keiichi said, as he went to check his wallet. HE grimaced a bit when he saw the amount inside. "Yeah I got enough to pay."
Skuld grimaced a bit when she saw Keiichi's slight depressed expression.
"Sir, I am quite skilled with machines and repairing them. If I repair something that is giving you and your business some problems, could we get a discount?" Skuld asked.
The worker thought about it. On one hand. he was getting worried about a refrigerator that was sounding a bit off lately and wasn't keeping things as cold as it should. On the other hand, he didn't want to get sued if something happened and the woman in front of him got hurt.
When he looked Skuld in the eye, ready to refuse her offer... He grew silent for a moment. There was something in her eyes that seemed to tell him that she could not only repair it, but could also make it far better than brand new.
"A-Alright, but if something goes wrong, I deny everything," The worker answered as he walked towards a door.
"You won't regret it!" Skuld said, as she brought up a wrench and followed the worker.
Keiichi waited a few minutes by himself. As he looked around to pass the time, he thought to himself, 'Man... it's kinda lonely here... I gotta give the guy that works here credit for being able to work here at this time...'
The door then opened, gaining Keiichi's attention. Skuld and the worker had happy expressions.
"So I'm guess you fixed the problem?" Keiichi asked.
"Yup! Some parts were starting to wear out because some were faulty and a few were banged up for some reason," Skuld said.
"I don't know how you did it, but thanks!" The worker cheered.
"So about the discount?" Skuld asked as she sat down.
"For you, yours and his orders on the house tonight," The worker answered as he walked behind the counter. He looked at Keiichi and asked, "And what will you have, sir?"
"What do you suggest?" Keiichi asked.
The worker thought about it and then suggested, "Then I suggest Yakitori. The officer that's patrolling tonight usually orders some and it wouldn't be a problem to make extra for you."
"Thanks, sounds good." Keiichi replied.
The worker went to the closed opening and opened it a little.
"Yakitori and a serving of Chocolate softserve!" The worker said, before closing the door.
-oOo-
As Keiichi and Skuld ate their meals, they chatted with the worker.
"I'm a bit curious, what brings you two out here so late at night?" the worker asked.
"We're trying to find a place for the night," Keiichi answered.
The worker thought about it for a few seconds.
"I have a son that owns an apartment complex nearby. I'll call and ask him to let you stay there for the night," The worker replied.
"That's mighty generous of you," Skuld said. "But won't you get in trouble with your boss for doing this much for us?"
"Ma'am, I don't think I'll get in trouble because I'm the owner," The worker said.
"I know it might be too late to ask this, but what's your name?" Keiichi asked.
"Ryota Oshiro," The worker answered.
"I'm Keiichi Morisato," Keiichi replied.
Skld was silent for a moment. She almost looked worried until a relieved expression appeared on her face as she recalled something.
"I'm Skuld Rasmussen," Skuld said. 'For once, I'm glad that Urd decided to follow one of her whims and get us a last name in case we were ever on this variant of Earth for an extended amount of time.'
Ryota picked up a phone and began to dial.
"Hello, Tadao? It's your dad," Ryota said into the phone. "You still have a room or two free?"
"..."
"Well, There's a couple here that needs a place for the night. One of them is a veritable wizard when it comes to fixing stuff and the other..."
Ryota looked as Keiichi's hands.
"Seems like it as well, but not quite to the same degree. Whatta say?"
"..."
"Good to hear it! I'll let them know!"
Ryota hanged up the phone.
"He'll let you stay the night," Ryota said to Keiichi and Skuld.
"Would he be willing to let us move in" Skuld asked.
"You'd have to talk with him about it in the morning, but I think he'd be willing to," Ryota replied with a shrug.
-oOo-
Urd was watching the previous scene on her terminal within her room.
"So they might have found a place to stay..." Urd muttered to herself. She then opened up a new window and went to check the location.
"Huh... Seems alright... Why does it ring a bell..." Urd muttered some more to herself.
A few seconds later, she remembered.
"Oh yeah... That place tends to have Youkai residents who are trying to integrate themselves with humanity on this Earth!" Urd said, as she reached for the contact program to let Skuld know. She stopped for a moment with a grin. "Nah... It'd be more fun to watch her learn on her own!"
Urd then let out a bit of a devious cackle.
"What are you laughing about?"
Urd turned about and saw a frowning Belldandy.
"Bell, the wish Skuld made is about to let her become an ambassador of sorts," Urd said, in an annoyed tone.
"What are you talking about?" Belldandy asked. Her tone was still annoyed, but was curious and concerned.
"Look and see..." Urd said as she turned back to face her terminal. Belldandy walked up and then read the screen. After a few seconds...
"Wha... But she's not ready!" Belldandy exclaimed as sh took a few steps back in shock.
"What the heck do you mean, Bell? She took the necessary diplomacy courses to get in the Goddess Relief Office! She's more than ready!" Urd said in a heated tone. She resisted the urge to create her UrdBolts.
"But what if she gets into trouble?" Belldandy asked.
"Then she can rely on the fruits of her magic training! Belldandy, you need to let her live her own life! You're not protecting her. You're stifling her!" Urd yelled, as she turned to face Belldandy.
Belldandy bit her lip as she suppressed the urge to argue. As much as she wanted to protect her sisters, Urd did have a point. She purposely chose the people who would have the innocent and easy wishes for Skuld to grant over the last few years.
After taking a few breaths to calm down, Belldandy then said, "Let's change the topic."
Urd crossed her arms and muttered, "Fine by me.."
"I've been banned from contacting Skuld for a month by Father. Do you think he's being too harsh?" Belldandy asked.
"Tch... Bell, You and I both know he does his best to be fair. He has his reasons for doing that to you," Ud said with a chuckle.
Belldandy then smirked.
"He also banned you from contacting them for two weeks, unless it's for emergency reasons," Belldandy replied.
Urd frowned a bit.
"Okay, so he can also be a bit of a jerk..." Urd muttered. "But I'm probably being too harsh on him..."
Belldandy made a little indignant huffing noise. She had been expecting Urd to go flying off the handle. She then thought Urd might need a bit of a bigger push.
"Perhaps we can send someone to 'assist' Skuld with the wish?" Belldandy asked. "After all, she never had a relationship with a guy before..."
Urd frowned some more.
"Bell, I know what you're trying to do. As much as I want to go down there myself to insure that Skuld has the best relationship ever, I won't and neither will you," Urd said.
Belldandy blinked a few times in surprise. Urd often declared herself the goddess of love and she often jumped at the chance to help others, whether they liked it or not.
"But-but-but..." Belldandy muttered as she tried to comprehend the situation.
"If I was a few years younger... Yeah, I'd be jumping at the chance to help my littlest sister snag a man. But I'm older, wiser, and know when to help. Once the ban is over, I have a bit of vacation time and I plan on using it to see Skuld and Keiichi," Urd replied.
Unable to say anything more at the moment, Belldandy left the room. Urd sighed and hoped that Belldandy wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her job as head of the Goddess Relief Office.
'She worked so hard to be the best there... I pray that you don't throw it away on a whim to 'protect' Skuld, when she doesn't need our help...' Urd thought, as she turned to face her terminal. 'Then again, you might need some time off to collect your thoughts...'
She then sent a request to The Almight have someone who was immune to Belldandy's charm to come by the GRO and do an inspection.
-oOo
After getting the directions and thanking Ryota, Keiich and Skuld left the diner and made their way to the apartment complex that Ryota's son owned.
In front of the building was an average-looking guy. The only thing that seemed to stand out was his brown hair and slightly angry eyes. As Keiichi pulled in front of the building, Skuld sensed that the person in front of the building was human.
"So are you Tadao?" Keiichi asked.
"Yup, are you the ones that Pop sent for the night?" Tadao asked back.
Keiichi and Skuld nodded.
"I wasn't sure if you were a couple or just a few friends, so I prepared two rooms," Tadao said.
"Is there a place where I can store my Beemer?" Keiichi asked.
Tadao pointed to an alley and said, "If you go down there, You'll get to the parking lot. I guess Pop forgot to tell you about it..."
"It's alright, I don't mind," Keiichi said, before driving down the alley.
"Keiichi... I think you should know something..." Skuld quietly said.
"What?" Keiichi replied in an equally quiet tone.
"I don't think he was human..." Skuld whispered.
"Wha-What is he?" Keiichi asked.
"I don't know, but I think he's friendly..." Skuld replied. "But if he isn't, I protect you with one of my Skuld Bombs.."
"..Thanks..." Keiichi whispered.
-oOo-
A bit later, Tadao lead the two to their rooms.
"I figured you'd like your rooms right next to each other," Tadao said.
"Thanks again..." Keiichi replied, trying to hide his worry about what Tadao might really be.
"Breakfast will be at seven. Should I wake you then?" Tadao asked.
"If it wouldn't be a problem..." Skuld said, before Keiichi could.
"It won't. I'll knock on your door then," Tadao said, before walking away.
Skuld then faced Keiichi and asked, "Well, see you in the morning.
"Wait, but-" Keiichi said, before Skuld silenced him by putting a finger on his lips.
"Don't worry. A Mini-Skuld will watch over you," Skuld said, Keiichi felt a small pressure on his right shoulder. When he looked over, he saw a small chibi-Skuld wave at him. "She'll let me know if anything happens."
"Should we ask if we could stay here?" Keiichi asked when Skuld removed her finger from his lips.
"If nothing bad happens to us," Skuld said with a shrug.
"Yeah..." Keiichi said, as he and Skuld entered their rooms.
-oOo-
In the morning, Tadao went to knock on Skuld's door, but she opened her door before he could.
"We have to talk..." Skuld said, with a somewhat serious tone.
"Oh, about what?" Tadao asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Something that can't be talked about here," Skuld replied.
"The roof then," Tadao said. "But after I wake Keiichi up for Breakfast. Midori hates it when I forget to wake people up for breakfast."
"Who's Midori?" Skuld asked.
"She's the co-owner of this place," Tadao answered, as he went to knock on Keiichi's door.
A few seconds later, Keiichi opened his door.
"Breakfast is going to be ready in a few minutes, so go to the dining room," Tadao said.
"Thanks..." Keiichi said, as he rubbed his eyes.
"Skuld and I will be down in a few minutes," Tadao said.
"Should I come along?" Keiichi asked.
"No, I can handle this on my own," Skuld said.
"If you say so..." Keiichi said, as he watched Skuld and Tadao walk away.
-oOo-
On the roof a few moments later...
"So what are you?" Skuld asked.
"An earth golem," Tadoa replied after a few seconds.
"So what is this place?" Skuld asked, as she put her hand behind her, ready to summon a Skuld Bomb out of Tadao's sight, should she need to.
"A place where Yokai and magical beings can stay at as they to to integrate themselves into Human society," Tadao replied. "I thought Heaven knew that..."
"We-We do! I was just testing you!" Skuld quickly said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Right..." Tadao muttered, as he raised an eyebrow.
After a few moments, Skuld realized something.
"Wait, how did you know I was from Heaven?" Skuld asked.
"Your facial markings," Tadao answered.
"Oh..." Skuld muttered, as her face became a bit red from embarrassment. "So is Midori your wife?"
"Nope, she's my cousin," Tadao replied.
"She's a golem as well?" Skuld asked, as she put her hand behind her once again.
"No, she's a Kuma Yokai, like my father," Tadao answered.
"Oh... Well, is Keiichi in any danger if he and I stay here?" Skuld asked. She was curious about why Tadao was different from his family, but got the feeling it might be a bit of a sensitive subject.
"Assuming you two are allowed to stay... He's only in danger if he is ignorant of what stays here and of what you are. If he's a blabbermouth, then we'll have to remove his memories of the last day or two and put in a false memory of him tripping and hitting his head and then passing out," Tadao said with a shrug. "At which point you and him would be asked to leave."
Skuld let out a sigh.
"I was scared you'd kill him or something," Skuld muttered.
"That'd leave a lot of unwanted questions that would lead back to here," Tadao replied.
"And giving him false memories won't?!" Skuld loudly asked, as she summoned a Skuld bomb.
"I know it's wrong on more than a few levels, but it's a choice between several beings that want to live peacefully and a person's short term memory," Tadao said. "So does he know about what you are and also about this place?"
"Yes, I told him last night and he's trustworthy enough to keep them a secret..." Skuld said. 'After all, he was granted a wish...'
"Alright, I'll hold you to that. Shall we head to breakfast?" Tadao asked.
"Will Keiichi and I be able to stay here?" Skuld asked, unsummoning the Skuld Bomb. Tadao rubbed his chin as he thought.
"I'd have to talk to Midori, but I think she'd agree to let you guys stay," Tadao replied.
'Then let's head to breakfast..." Skuld said, as she headed to the door to head to breakfast.
The screen turned off.
"Well, while I think it misses what made the first part great, I kinda enjoyed the fact it is kinda goes on its own path, instead of it following exactly how Bell and Kei met," Urd said.
"If the place is dangerous, why would the me in this would let Keiichi go off to possibly further danger?" Skuld asked.
"It seems you will always have the problem with only focusing on what's ahead of you, squirt!" Urd answered with a chuckle.
"As do you..." Skuld replied.
"Hey!" Urd loudly said, glaring at Skuld.
"Please calm down..." Belldandy ordered. They did so and Belldandy then said, "How did you think of it, Keiichi?"
"I thought it was alright, but I think the diner thing started, the whole thing felt kinda forced," Keiichi said with a shrug. "What about you, Bell?"
"It was alright, but I don't like how the me in it was acting," Belldandy replied.
"Should we watch another question?" Skuld asked.
"Can't. Bell and I have to go to work," Keiichi said, as he got up to go get dressed.
"We'll see if we can come up worth a question or two while you're out," Urd said as Belldandy and Keiichi left the room.
-oOoOoOo-
Author's note –Around of thanks to Spiritblade for asking the alternate version question to this chapter. Spiritblade's version was, What would have happened in the alternate timeline of chapter 2?
As for the small argument between Urd and Skuld about who was more annoying between Scrappy Doo and Flim-Flam, I'm not sure what possessed me to write it.
Now for another story recommendation. "Pursuing a New Path" by ranmafan1. It's a Ah! My goddess/Ranma crossover in the Anime X-Over category. It seems to be a Mara/Ranma paring... and it's a dead fic. Still... It's nice to see Mara win something once in awhile. Bit of a shame it ends on a cliffhanger at the moment when Mara is about to get revenge on a few members of the Ranma cast.