Thanks to Zoro50 for his kind help.

The order of the Mortal Knights

By Javier Delgado aka Elnauhual

Fan fiction inspired by "Oh my Goddess' Kosuke Fujishima.

Chapter XXXV

Revelations 2.0

Vincenzo D'Angelo let his gaze wander through his office window. The view was spectacular, the red glow in the sky heralded the dawn and in the distance the silhouette of the stone filigree that was Il Duomo, Milan´s Cathedral, had a crimson glow. That had been one of the reasons why he chose that particular floor and that particular office. But at this time he was not paying any attention, his mind was full of confusing and contradictory ideas. That was not good for a business that needed to sell fresh, compelling and provocative stories. He sighed and looked back at the surprising and strange pictures that they had been receiving in recent days from his favorite correspondent: Giorgio Vaglia. He had been nicknamed "Cagliostro" by his staff for the type of adventurous situations in which he usually was involved. Vincenzo stared at large HD screen of his computer and reviewed again the pictures that had been sent to him. He knew the value of those pictures and knew they could feed the public's hunger for news for a long time, but something was missing, a good story.

Vincenzo was in his luxurious office in a modern building. On the wall hung several awards for his journalism work, and his big and elegant office reveled him as a high level executive. On the other hand the bags under his eyes, the clutter on his desk, a trash can filled to the top with disposable coffee cups, his elegant tie out of place and his expensive suit completely wrinkled told he was in the middle of a major crisis and that he had not left his office in days.

He struck the table with clear murmuring

- A story, I need a good story, the whole world is watching us.

Without a compelling story behind the photos they would be soon forgotten as a curiosity and it was a shame. He could smell great news, but this time Giorgio had been strangely silent and no threat or bribery seemed to work on him. Usually the promise of a good meal accompanied by some fine wines, would put Giorgio in a very talkative mood about his exploits, but this time the offer had not worked nor anything else did.

Certainly his photos about the incident had been chilling and everyone demanded to know more. With his nose for news, Giorgio had arrived before anyone else on the scene and had begun sending material as soon as the conflict had erupted: A town in North Africa had been seized by terrorists. The public was shocked. The series of amazing photographs that were sent had the world on edge. Photos of a famous and rarely seen terrorist, a village surrounded by a minefield, the abduction of a mysterious young European or American girl, and what seemed to be a nuclear explosion of unknown origin that had been verified by the military and civilian satellites. During the previous days the world had panicked at the news that terrorists might have stolen nuclear material... and then even more strange and incredible images; a man and a boy walking into a minefield protected by a sort of force field followed by strange events in the village, but what had happened there?. A religious revelation? An alien intervention? What else? Giorgio did not say anything, he just sent the images, but it was obvious something very special had happened there. Terrorists coexisting with the hostages and then releasing them? Why? Why?

- Ah! Ah! - Vincenzo voiced a cry of despair. Suddenly some quick taps on the door forced him to regain his composure, as the news director of a major news network he had to care for his image and look cool.

- Come in... - he said with a tired voice.

- Hey boss. - A young man that seemed almost as tired as him appeared- Strange news keeps coming. We have information from other sources, and they seemed to be true...

- Even more weird news? - He asked with a tired voice- Now what? A flying angel appeared? A sorcerer? An alien? At this rate I think I can expect anything.

-Do you remember that Giorgio forwarded us the image of several known terrorists? Only god knows what brought them out of hiding. Several of them had never been photographed in years. Well, now they began to leave the place. The authorities are desperate by some mysterious way they have been slipping away. They just move away from the village and then their footsteps disappear like magic.

- What? How is that possible? I thought a strict military perimeter around the village had already been set by the local authorities.

- They had and not only them, by now there is also an almost multinational army, those terrorists are sought worldwide and have made enemies around the world. All the countries with troops near the area sent them to surround the place. Even so, they are disappearing.

- And that's the news? - Vincenzo asked blinking, it seemed the man had more to say.

- No, it's something even stranger. Several of those terrorists have reappeared and have announced a unilateral cease of all their activities.

- What? But... they are certainly putting conditions!. We know they have some kind of nuclear device so they must be asking for something.

- They have announced an unconditional ceasefire, and... They are making public apologies for their former actions. They are also asking all their members to surrender their weapons and not to make any further hostile activity, and even more, we have some reports that they have surrendered to the authorities their own members that refused to comply.

- That makes no sense. Well, that looks like a certifiable miracle. I began to think there was some kind of religious manifestation, or something like that. Will it be a prophet? A saint? A guru? I just don't know... - He arms rose in the air as a sign of misunderstanding -. Did you managed to find out about the foreigners?, those mysterious troops did not seemed to have something to do with the terrorist, it seemed as if they were after them, the images show they had a fight, then took control, take tome prisoners and finally they released them. Also there are those Japanese. Unfortunately Giorgio took care not to send any faces and claims that he deleted their photographs to keep their privacy, Dam! We only have distant shots and he adamantly refuses to give us the rest of the material. .What could have happened to that man? He has never been so mysterious!

Vincenzo scratched his head, where several premature threads of silver showed the ravages of his line of work

- By the way, I have not been able to identify those Japanese. I thought that a Japanese man, along with a child would be easy to trace in that zone, but it is as if their traces have wiped. We have no clear pictures of them, just some distant shots. Also I began to suspect that the flight records to the area were hacked to hide their identity

- And what about the medallion? Have you found something? The only clear pictures of that man does not show his face, but just an old medallion.

- I asked whatever experts I could find and they confirmed that the inscriptions on the medallion are ancient runes. Fortunately there is a specialist on runes who will come to give a lecture at the University of Milan, it a guy called Dr. Jann Krogh Danielsen, I hope to make contact with him this afternoon after his lecture.

- Until the afternoon? - Vincenzo said reluctantly – I hope it's worth the wait.

Another series of quick taps on the open door frame make them to turn their head. It was a girl with lively intelligent eyes, old jeans and a backpack; she also was carrying a tray of drinks and snacks.

- Dad, I am bringing you some provisions -. Said the young girl with a serious expression- I bought you something decent to eat before going to school, you've have been locked here for days surviving on coffee and donuts. As usual you have not even cared to ask for some decent food. Mom also sends you a change of clothes -. She threw a packet to punctuate her words. Vincenzo caught it just in time.

He tried to protest, that was not the way to talk to the director of a news agency, but the sight of reproach from his daughter prevented it and the sight of food made him realize he was really hungry. Adrenaline and caffeine had kept him awake and active as he examined the material that had astonished the world. Maybe he could not afford much time to rest, but certainly he did not need to starve

What was left of his resistance was quickly demolished when his daughter looked at him with a knowing smile that was the end of any further attempt to protest. He proceeded to launch a successful frontal assault on the tray with food and gestured to his assistant to do the same.

While he was devouring a sandwich, she approached his desk. Vincenzo never let anyone touch his desk, but his daughter usually deemed any ban on his part as a challenge to overcome...

- So these are the pictures that has the world on edge.- said the girl with curiosity.- In college everyone is commenting and doing all sorts of strange theories, even my Wiccan friends are talking about ancient prophecies and say the gods have come to... Ah! - She uttered an exclamation of surprise at a particular photo-... - What is this?

She signaled to her father a picture on the screen, it was a close up of the medallion they had been talking about. It was round and seemed to be made of dark wood and be of great antiquity. Along it´s circumference there was a large amount of runes that seemed to glow. There were other pictures of the medallion and she could examine every detail. Vincenzo left unfinished his sandwich and seeing the look of surprise on his daughter came to her and put a hand on her shoulder, as he turned to look at the pictures he talked with his mouth full of food.

- What is it? Did you recognize it?...

She said nothing, she opened her backpack where there were several books and took one out. The cover of the book had the drawing of an ancient medallion and title of the book was "The Power of Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Viking and Norse Magic" by Dr. Kenji Shugahara.

Vincenzo took the book from her daughters hand and examined it as if it were an odd bug; it was the same medallion from the photo. He went flipping the book as his heart was running fast. He found more images and some diagrams explaining the purpose of the runes. Apparently it was an ancient Norse magic charm that gave some protection against the magic and weapons. Of course the book did not mention anything about to offering protection against a modern minefield... still this was too fantastic to be true.

Is this one of your "new age" books? It must be a coincidence, I have warned you about this kind of material...

- No daddy – the young girl protested indignantly – Dr Kenji Shugahara is a respected academic expert in the field of Ethnobotany and Nordic traditions. I know that some of the formulas described here have been successfully converted to quite effective commercial medicines and he is considered quite an authority in academic circles.

Vincenzo revisited the book in disbelief, and then turned it to examine it´s back. It had a photograph. It was the obligatory photograph of the author, in this case a man in his early thirties, wearing an old-fashioned tie and a sober suit, he wore antiquated thick glasses, and he bore a slight smile and eyes that betrayed an academic with a restless mind. He could not help smiling at the thought that he seemed the cliché of an old movie academic. Then he examined the picture more closely, the face looked familiar. Vincenzo shuddered, he abruptly stepped aside and pushed his daughter from the computer while she looked resigned at him, then he began sifting through the photos. He found one where a man and a child were standing behind the crowd, unfortunately they were too far away. He amplified then to the extent allowed by the image grain and left out a cry of surprise. The photo was blurry, but there was no doubt it was the same man.

He slumped in his chair... What on earth was a Japanese specialist in medicinal plants and Viking magic doing there? Then he smiled at the thought. Perhaps he had found his story and began to laugh out loud, he could not ask for a more fantastic story than that. That man soon would to be famous, wished or not.

But Vincenzo did not know he was being watched. A young journalist apprentice had quietly approached the door and had been listening to the conversation. A few days ago, when he saw those photos, he had been surprised to see the image of the medallion, the organization had told him about those medallions and how important was to recover them, so he had decided not to miss any details of what happened in the office. He had volunteered to remain there in order to keep an eye on the matter. Now his perseverance bore fruit. Discreetly he observed the book the young girl had brought; it would not be difficult to find the reference.

Trying to avoid suspicion, he quietly went to his cubicle and looked for the book on the Internet, after he examined the author's photo he smiled. The organization was powerful and it would be easy to find the man. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, he spoke quickly – I request contact with the master, this is a high priority message, I found out who has one of Urth´s medallions – He hung up immediately. His heart raced, He could trust that would be appropriately rewarded by the brotherhood. Maybe one day that elegant office would be his.

xXx

- The gods are coming! - Keiichi muttered to himself as his heart raced.

His trip to Yggdrasil cyberspace had given him a lot of knowledge and also disturbing news. Something had happened to Lind and Belldandy. Perhaps the gods who came for the bracelets would bring news. Keiichi smiled to think that in the past the gods had been for him mysterious entities and the arrival of a new god was always a sign of new problems. But now he wished for them and looked forward to this meeting, they no longer seemed distant and powerful beings.

He felt the powerful energy of a new dimensional portal, everyone could feel the difference with the previous one, but only Keiichi knew the reason and he was able to perceive the subtle details involved. Soon in front of them a new portal opened, it was full of light with magical symbols dancing around its walls. Keiichi was able read them and understand how each of them could keep at bay the endless combinations of vacuum and quantum foam where the multiverse converged to allow communication.

And then, emerging from the light, they appeared, beautiful and proud as ever, a group of powerful warrior goddesses, the Valkyrie. Long ago that vision would have brought fear, but now it was a comforting sight to see faces that already were familiar. No matter how powerful a being could be, it was difficult to fear them after you have taken cooking classes together...

As the goddesses emerged from the portal, he realized it was as he had feared, deep into his heart he had wished to see Lind at the front of the group, but he saw that none of the Valkyrie was of a higher rank from the others. Heading them was Chrono; he knew she was too young to have a command post.

Keiichi was so deep in his thoughts that hardly heard the gasps from the mortals around him. The young students barely dared to say something; they were entranced by the sight of the goddesses. Somehow the visit of the demons had been more "down to earth".

Keiichi was too concerned to pay attention to them; he knew that an elite group would never mobilize without a senior leader. Before he could ask any question, the goddesses formed up and Chrono knelt before him, she put her hands on the ground, in an attitude of supplication she leaned her forehead almost touching the floor, without looking at him, the girl talked to him with utter respect:

- Keiichi-Sama, respected and wise judge from the Order of the mortal knights, I speak on behalf of Belldandy and on behalf of my own companions, we have come here to contravene the ancient laws of heaven, we invoke the protection of the sacred temple of Tarikihongan for one of us.

The scientists and students looked puzzled at Keiichi, this time they could not understand what was happening because unlike the previous visit of the demons, the young Valkyrie were not speaking in the mortal language but in the ancient language of heaven. It was a strange and mysterious ancient language that sounded musical. However Keiichi could understand them perfectly. The request took him by surprise and somehow it unleashed a wave of memories that came from the unfathomable depths of his mind. From somewhere deep inside him, ancient rituals and laws became present, as if he had always known them. That seemed to be the gift from Belldandy´s father.

Keiichi closed his eyes for a moment while trying to assimilate that knowledge and after a few moment answered in the heavenly language.

- I, Keiichi, arbiter of the great truce, declare that I have been given the authority to grant asylum above the laws of heaven and hell. In my authority as a judge I can extend the protection from the Tarikihongan temple to you.

Chrono straightened a little to see his face, Keiichi could see what looked like the brightness of a tear rolling down her cheek, but it was not a tear of pain but relief.

- We will be forever grateful, but we invoke your protection for only one of us.

From the portal appeared another figure. It was Othala the healer; she was carrying in her arms an unconscious body. Keiichi ran to meet her, he had already guessed who it was.

- Lind! Are you alright?

Lind did not react, she seemed to be in a deep coma, Othala meet his questioning gaze and said softly.

- She is as good as Valkyrie who has been stripped of all the reasons that she has to live can be. I have put her into a coma so she could res, but it's all I can do, she needs to heal something that is beyond me. I cannot heal her heart and soul nor return her pride as Valkyrie, that's beyond the power of any god, but there is someone that has that power, Belldandy had revealed it to us.

Keiichi shuddered at those words, he suspected the answer, yet still wondered.

-Who is that person that can do something a god cant?

- That being is Keiichi-Sama- answered the healer in an awed tone- You are the being that deep inside of him has the power to heal the soul of a god. You have touched her soul once; it was the time when she was intoxicated by the power of Gaia. Please do it again and give her a new reason to live. She should stay here under your protection. Belldandy has exiled her against all the laws of our world, since they demanded her death. She cannot return to heaven; even Kamisama cannot save her if she returns. I have seen so many friends die, so I ask you to do all you can to save her.

Keiichi came closer and gently took Lind from Othala´s arms. Keiichi could feel his heart rushed and the contact with the body of the once proud and mighty Valkyrie. She now seemed the very embodiment of fragility. Her body was incredibly light and for a moment he felt as if he could hurt her easily if pressed too hard. He swallowed and examined her pale face, even unconscious there was pain and anguish. After a moment he realized there was something missing, the goddess no longer had her face marks that showed her power and rank in the hierarchy of heaven. Her face was clean as if she had never possessed them. Lind was no longer a goddess, yet he was not sure what she was now...

Keiichi imagined the pain this must cause her. She was neither a goddess nor a mortal; she was just a fragile spirit whose flame could disappear at any moment. Keiichi gently pressed the frail body of Lind, it felt cold and he tried to give her some of his heat, at that moment he felt that something from him went to her, and wondered if it had not been an illusion. In the back of his mind magical words formed. He could not say from where they came, but he knew those words could help heal, so he said them with a gentleness that came from the depths of his heart:

-Meyiar flugo sunnan, myrkvið í gögnom, alvitr ungar, ørlög drýgia.

A soft glow emerged from Keiichi´s body, it was ancient magic emanating from his body, but it was not magic from Hell or heaven. It was a magic so different that it was difficult to call it magic. It was an emanation of the power of Gaia channeled through his mortal body. Keiichi realized there were powers latent deep inside him, while he was not sure where they came, he was grateful to have them.

He tried to focus on them, even if he was not sure how to do it, he was relieved when it seemed to work, his body shone more brightly and the young mortal felt some of his warmth was being sent to Lind´s weak body. The sober Valkyrie around him sighted with relief as the pain and anxiety disappeared from Lind pale face pale.

Forgetting for a moment their dignity, the Valkyrie broke formation and came near to see Lind, astonished by the change. They surrounded Keiichi and all put their hands on him, as a kind of communion. Keiichi felt like they were trying to pass some of their own magic to her. Then he observed Lind´s face and remembered she no longer had her goddess marks, according the knowledge he now had, it meant not only she had no magic but that she could not accept any. Those marks represented the code a goddess used to control magic. Again more ancient knowledge emerged from the depths of his mind and brought the solution, in his mind appeared a strange invocation, he knew it was more ancient than the human race, yet it was only for humans to use. This was magic meant for the future, magic that lay deep in the souls of every mortal.

- Þær austr ok vestr enda fálo- after Keiichi´s words faded away a glow appeared in Lind´s face.

He had not been sure what that magic would do, so he and the goddesses were surprised when new marks appeared in Lind´s face, they were not the marks of a demons or a goddess. They were similar to Keiichi´s marks; those marks that were invisible to common mortals. Keiichi could not help but smile at an idea: The order of mortal knights now had a new member.

The Valkyrie stepped back in awe and bowed to Keiichi. At that time Dr. Yukiko Ohta, who had been wondering what, was happening, approached Keiichi, she had met Lind briefly at the Tarikihongan temple and recognized her. While she could not understand what was going on, she realized Lind was weak so she ordered her students to prepare a place where she could rest.

- Poor Young girl, will she be okay? What happened to her? - She asked as she examined her

Keiichi felt as if waking from a dream and answered.

- She has been exiled to earth, I think she will be alright but needs rest.

- You can put her there. - Then she ordered to her students – bring something to cover her, her body is too cold.

Keiichi felt grateful for Dr Hota´s help, he felt numb. Chrono bowed to the mortals and Dr Hota greeted her:

- Your name is Chrono isn´t it? You do not need to thank me; you saved my life in the incident at the laboratory of Chiba University. You are a brave young girl, and it seems you have been promoted to lead this group, I hope it's permanent.

Dr. Ohta smiled at the young goddess and then went with his group to explain.

- She was the one that controlled the explosion at the materials laboratory, that is another incident we have to explain to you, the real explanation I mean, since I'm sure you've all heard rumors about it.

- So she is really a goddess! - Said a particularly young looking student, who almost without thinking added - She is so beautiful!... ah! - Then added shyly - ... could you introduce me to her?

His timid boldness was met by a burst of laughter from the students, which broke the tension of the moment, and helped Keiichi to recover, he quickly asked:

- Chrono!, do you have news from Belldandy...?

Again the young goddess bowed her head in respect, she approached Keiichi and extended her hands toward the mortal and muttered a few inaudible words. On her hands appeared a small crystal, it seemed like the most beautiful of diamonds. It levitated towards Keiichi who took it in his hands. He shivered at its touch, he could feel Belldandy´s presence in it, and was so shocked that he could barely hear Chrono´s explanation.

- It is an encrypted message from Belldandy, no one else can activate it but you. Belldandy told me me its private and confidential information for your eyes only and you must see it alone. Nobody must know about its contents.

Keiichi gently closed his hand around the crystal and almost felt intoxicated by it, so strong was the aura of Belldandy´s magic. Later he could barely remembered what happened next. He had an idea in mind, he needed to return to the temple and activate the message. Fortunately this time the scientists and students already knew what to do, before Keiichi realized it, the Valkyrie were gone with the bracelets.

xXx

The "Aéroport de Paris-Orlyes" it´s practically a small town where thousands of passengers come and go every day. Inside there, small businesses serve food and beverages to the passengers. In one. of them, a small restaurants serving Fast Food were three people, two men and a boy.

Dr Kenji Shugahara was giving his last instructions rapidly alternating between Japanese and English.

- Soon I will meet with you again, but I want to go CERN before returning home. I need to discus and evaluate with them the impact this will have; we may have to speed up some actions and must be careful so that the situation does not get out of control. Now I must hurry, I barely have time to make the connection, my plane is about to leave. I hope Galileo will help you to communicate with each other.

The boy and the other man laughed when a voice came from their cell phones talking to them in their respective language. Galileo was already very good at several languages.

Then Dr Shugahara rose from his seat, gave a quick hug to the boy and a strong hand shake to the man, then he hurried to take his plane.

He walked briskly through the long corridors of the airport, but could not help noticing that for some reason, his presence attracted too much attention. He could listen as some people whispered and pointed to him, if he had stopped before some of the TV monitors transmitting news, he would have noticed that his photo was constantly appearing alongside other photos of the village. He had no way of knowing it, but his presence in the airport had been noticed and had started a chain of events that was about going to impact him.

But he did not want to miss his flight, so he speed up his pace. Suddenly as he came into the waiting room for his flight, he was assaulted by a mob and was blinded by a barrage of photographer flashes. There were a dozen people trying to talk simultaneously making a dozen questions:

- Dr Shugahara, what you were doing in that town?

- Dr Shugahara, What's that medallion you use in the pictures?

- Do you believe in magic?

- How did you survive to the explosion in the minefield?

- What is your relationship with the terrorists?

Again a new barrage of flashes let him temporarily blind. While sometimes he had to confront the press as a minor celebrity, he was not prepared for this. What had happened? Questions were asked in several languages and soon he could not understand anything. It was a real mob and he could barely think of something. The crowd began to push him and was about to fall when suddenly a group of men in black suits surrounded him blocking the reporters that besieged him. One of them, almost indistinguishable from the others, said.

- Dr. Shugahara, please come with us, we must get you away from this crowd.

Dr Shugahara was so stunned that without thinking or asking any questions, nodded and let the men take him away from the crowd until they came to an open space, some of the men in suits, stayed behind blocking the aisle and thus preventing the access to the people, Dr. Shugahara could breath again and began to wonder what had happened. He turned around to thank his anonymous rescuers. He examined them, their identical suits looked like uniforms, they seemed like the anonymous bodyguards used to protect the VIP, and maybe they have been sent by the people at CERN.

He could not help but laugh that they looked as if they had emerged from some old movie, but no matter...

- Thank you for your help, but I have a flight to catch, so you see...

One of them put his hand on his shoulder and spoke:

- Dr Shugahara you do not have to thank us for anything -

Dr Shugahara never felt the slight sting of a thin needle as it punctured the skin of his shoulder; it was in the ring the man wore in his hand. He lost consciousness so fast he could never finish his sentence.

Shortly after, the hurried passengers in transit barely paid attention to a group of men in suits that appeared to be escorting a man. None paid enough attention to notice that the man was actually dragging his feet on the ground. Soon the group was lost into the crowd of the busy airport.

xXx

At the heart of the world of the gods lays a magnificent building beyond anything mortals can imagine. It's the building where great council of the gods meet. The original had been destroyed during the explosion that had injured the former Kamisama, but it had been rebuilt even more magnificent and beautiful by Belldandy with the aid of all gods.

The building was the supreme symbol of authority, power and wisdom of the gods. Therefore, except for the rare times when the physical presence of the gods was necessary, few gods dared to approach the place. Such was the respect they had for it, so that is why it was the best place to be for a supreme god who wished for some solitude.

So there it was. At the center of the large room which sometimes was used by the high council of the gods, a delicate figure was floating in the air. She was Kamisama, the great god and ruler of this universe, who until recently had been known as the first class goddess, unlimited license, Belldandy.

The goddess was singing softly while dancing around the air and a beautiful filigree of light formed by her powerful magic was filing the place. She needed to meditate on all that had happened, and that slow dance helped her. Her song and dance had an almost hypnotically quality. It was her way to bring peace to her mind, and she needed badly to meditate carefully on all the events.

The extraordinary session of the council, invoked by the Ragna protocol, has just ended and Belldandy was very disturbed by the results. The Ragna protocol was the maximum level of emergency in her universe. It had never been invoked in the long history of gods and it´s instructions were draconian. No matter if they had been right or wrong, the Valkyrie involved were executed, and the only difference was in how they were to be remembered. That was because no one that dared to challenge Kamisama would dare to live. Belldandy had realized there was a huge loophole in that reasoning and had used it.

The Ragna protocol described in detail every action for everyone involved and Belldandy had challenged almost every one of them. Kamisama should have been presented, guarded and bounded by the Valkyrie, so the council could decide if it should continue to rule based on the Valkyrie report. But she had presented by herself with no Valkyrie and had refused to give explanations or present Lind´s report, instead she had announced that the only surviving Valkyrie had been degraded, devoid of her divinity and exiled to the mortal world.

There was no precedents on that, but no one had dare to oppose her, since as the Ragna protocol provided, no one who dare to oppose Kamisama would be allowed to live, even if it were right.

Belldandy thought about all this in the third person, she was trying to think about what happened dispassionately. Her mind tried to analyze and weigh each event. For those who did not know her, she was still the beautiful goddess Belldandy as always, but the mortal known as Keiichi would have noticed immediately that something was not right. Her face had changed slightly, it seemed as if the previous days had actually been centuries and they had left a note of sadness in her eyes. In a subtle way, that sadness transformed the innocence on the goddess face and give her that touch of wisdom that only suffering can provide. Belldandy had grown more in those days than the previous millennia of her life. Belldandy continued her slow dance as she meditated...

She had forced her way into the council in ways had never dreamt to do. Since she was a mere child and had learned that one day she may became Kamisama, she had begun to prepare to rule, not by force, but by using reason and compassion informing everyone of the full facts behind her decisions. That was something that the previous Kamisama rarely did. His actions were rarely understood and most of the time remained mysterious and his orders were always carried even when they seemed questionable. Now Belldandy had had to do the same. She knew she had violated the highest laws of her world, laws that were meant to determine the life and death of gods and laws that she had realized she could not afford to obey for the sake of her reasons. At the end the only way she could find to avoid them, was to act as an authoritarian tyrant, silencing any protest after she gave a series of seemingly incomprehensible and irrational orders.

In the eyes of the gods now she was even more ruthless and authoritarian than Hild the dreaded ruler of Hell. In the eyes of the gods she had stripped a Valkyrie of her honor at avoiding her death as ordered by protocol and that had been perceived as a great cruelty. Belldandy knew the only way to avoid Lind's death had been to remove her Valkyrie status and her goddess code where the auto-destruction instructions were embedded, then she had exile Lind to the earth; otherwise there would be always the possibility that Yggdrasil could reinstall and reactivate the self-destruction code. Also Belldandy knew that the truth of what really happened could destroy the foundations of her world and her people would be turned into despair.

Belldandy had to accept that in the eyes of the gods she had taken revenge on Lind for her actions against her. Thus she, the most caring of the goddess, had squelched any protest using her authority and her power. As Kamisama she was more powerful than any god. There were other two actions that she had forced on the council. The first was to keep the truce with Hell, even if many believed it was responsible for everything they had suffered. The second order was to bring those bracelets from the mortal world and order all gods to use them. Many of them could not believe Yggdrasil was infected, as the base of their world, it was an intolerable thought, and the idea of using something manufactured by lowly mortals was intolerable.

At the end she knew she would be obeyed, but she found it necessity to make a display of her power to the council, using two powerful and reluctant council members as an example for all. They were not a match for her and she was careful not to produce any permanent damage. Now she would be obeyed with reverence and awe.

Belldandy pause her slow dance, she was disturbed by the conclusion. The strangest of all of this was the she had earned the respect of the Council. The result was that everyone had accepted her as the supreme ruler of the world of the gods.

Belldandy could feel the sour taste of bitterness and loneliness that gives the absolute power and she was saddened at realize that every day that passed she would have to rely more on the use of that power. Belldandy sighed, at least she had been able to send that message to Keiichi before the council meeting had started. She was confident that he could take care of Lind. Now she needed to talk with him but it was necessary to wait. Even with her new power (or because of it) she could not contact him without causing a commotion on earth and heaven, she would need some help in order to keep it secret. She felt lonely and longed for Keiichi's presence, even his voice would sooth her. At that moment Belldandy could not help but shiver. Apparently she was the only one to realize the current situation. Most gods blamed Hell and did not realize they were under the actions of unknown and dangerous forces.

Belldandy completely stopped her song and dance, she opened her eyes, and it was enough meditation, now it was time to act. She was worried not only about her world but about Keiichi.

While she had been on earth supposedly tied by Keiichi's wish, Belldandy had learned from Keiichi´s secret dossier that her real mission had been to protect him, but the nature of the danger was unknown since she had no credentials to read the full file. Now she was Kamisama, there was no one with higher authority.

With a delicate hand gesture she invoked a spell that materialized before her multiple control panels. She smiled to herself, once she had declared that if given a choice between saving the universe and saving Keiichi, she would chose Keiichi. For the moment she would forget all about heaven and think about Keiichi, so she had no problem using her new power and authority on his behalf.

She took a small crystal that was part of her earrings; it was the one that contained Keiichi´s file. She opened it with her new access codes, this time no restrictions appeared.

She scanned first the part she already knew by heart and soon found there was a new level of information beneath unlocked by her new status, with trembling heart she opened it...

That was how Belldandy, goddess among goddesses now known as Kamisama, learned that she had only been a pawn in a greater game and her life and others had been manipulated by unimaginable powers.

She began to dig into the entire report, it was much more complex than she had expected. It´s time frame was beyond Keiichi's life, it went back several millennia. Eager to find more she opened at once every section of the file and it expanded to hundreds of information screens that now floated in mid air as if a powerful had scattered them. As part of her multiple abilities, she had been an expert on historical predictions, one of the most complexes of heaven sciences, where even a minute detail could change everything, but this report was even more complex. The Great hall of the gods was now almost completely covered by the details of the life of one mortal. It was a nightmare of hundreds of screens dancing wildly in the air as the goddess displayed all her talent to understand them. She moved in what seemed like a maddening ballet, as she manipulated petabytes of information. Soon she guessed the reason for so much information, it was meant for someone who knew nothing about the real world so everything had to be explained in painstaking detail. Once she understood that, she began to absorb only the relevant info.

Belldandy already knew she had been manipulated by her father as an attempt to acquire power, but now she saw that even her father had been just a pawn.

Incredulous she learned that Keiichi, Dr Shugahara and Sentarō, owned their very existence to a predetermined plan, and they were not the only ones. Other mortals existed, with similar qualities, yet they were mere backups for a complex plan that had many fail-safes. Distributed between the gene pool of humanity existed DNA fragments that by themselves did not contribute much, but if they were reunited could give birth to humans with very special powers, they were the newborn children of Gaia. An intelligence had been manipulating clans, families and individuals for centuries, "predestining" them to meet each other until the right combinations were meet so they would be born before their time. Once several of them existed, several gods, whose life had also been manipulated, had been destined to meet them. Somehow those gods and mortals would complement each other. Everything had been done in a way so subtle that it was almost indistinguishable from pure chance. It had been a covert operation that nobody should know about it. Keiichi, Shugahara, Sentarō, Belldandy, Urd, Skuld, they were just pawns in a giant game of chess against an unknown enemy, and enemy that must be a formidable foe to require such strategy.

Belldandy paused as she recalled the conversation she had once with Urd about how unlikely the way she had meet Shugahara had been. Belldandy had attributed it to Fate, one of the programs running within Yggdrasil. But Urd had reported that the program had been shut off because it was unstable, but something or someone has been using it, but with fail safes to take into account the high possibility of errors.

As she read more, Belldandy became overwhelmed, every possibility, every option, every success, every failure was there, carefully annotated and reported. Belldandy felt confused, who was the intelligence behind all this? Only a handful of gods would be able to comprehend this report, the logs indicated that the report had been accessed a few times by technicians, but none of them had the capability of understanding it, so they simply had ignored it. She checked carefully the records, no high level god knew about this.

Belldandy froze her body trembled and her heart seemed to stop. She was completely stunned by what she was discovering. There was an intelligence that manipulated the gods in the same way that the gods had manipulated humans, but what kind of intelligence was it and why? Urd had said that the report probably was a product of one of the prediction programs, or maybe an oracle, but no oracle could have that power.

It meant this should be the work of the legendary ADX series. Belldandy force herself to react and overcome her fear. She quickly searched for information on the ADX series. She was not surprised that the information was in a long forgotten library, heavily encrypted. It was a huge file, so she just spent little time reviewing the origins of software. In ancient and long forgotten times various gods had dedicated their lives and resources to create one of the most powerful pieces of software could be conceived. It was Software that possessed a sophisticated artificial intelligence, but curiously also with powerful locks to prevent it from developing consciousness. Intelligence without conscience? Belldandy shuddered, it was a disturbing thought. That explained how it had manipulated the lives of men and gods with uncanny coldness

Hidden from view, the ADX software had been operating without supervision since ancient times, manipulating and protecting the world of the gods. It had been created as a proactive defense system, the system had been subtly manipulating the destiny of gods to provide them with a safe and stable universe. The software had been acting before any predictable menace were able to materialize. Their lives, their society, all had been manipulated. Maybe even Hell had been manipulated. Only if the menace became inevitable the system would report to the gods, but it had never happened. There was a directive, if the threat exceeded a certain level, it would notify the system supervisors about its predictions. But until now that had never happened.

Belldandy reviewed the logs about the software and learned that several threats had been ruthlessly eliminated before they happened and gasped... between those threats... there was the death of her parents, achieved through the simple means of altering Hilds commands to her subordinates in the last days of the war between Heaven and Hell. Belldandy trembled with horror; it was like opening the Pandora box and found it full of pain. .

The reasons were inhumanely detailed. Her father was about to break the balance between Heaven and Hell.

Belldandy stood terrified, her body trembling and her face paled. Had she knew about this a few days ago, she would have collapsed, but the suffering of the last days had make her stronger and soon recovered. With her hand still were trembling she continued. She now opened the file relating to her parents and the projections that had decided their fate. Belldandy wondered how many lives had been manipulated or destroyed to keep her world "safe". Yes, her father could have destabilized heaven and hell, the projections were clear, yet she realized it had not been the only way to prevent it, just the easier way. Belldandy began to wonder if the price for the "good" of her world had been too high. The she remembered her nightmares about Keiichi. Maybe they were not about Keiichi's destiny rather than a plan, a plan that required Keiichi´s death.

With anxiety she returned to Keiichi´s file. She needed to know what was the software plans for him and why, Belldandy had realized that even if the ADX software had acted in an inhuman way, the menaces had been real.

Belldandy could not prevent a cry of fear, but now she was committed to her work and continued, even if her heart was filled with terror. There in the logs, she found a list of facts and symptoms that would herald a menace. Also carefully recorded were a series of predictions based on those incidents. Most of the predictions had come true. Some were irrelevant, but then there were some very serious, like the murdered of goddess Giörel, the attack against Kamisama and even the chaos that followed, also there were other predictions for the future, all escalating in magnitude until the final prediction: the destruction in the near future of the worlds of gods and demons.

Belldandy was now beyond fear as her determination became stronger. She was now Kamisama, a goddess among gods, and fear was no longer an emotion that could control her. There were so many questions and mysteries. According to the directives that controlled the ADX software, the current menace was so high that it should have informed Kamisama, yet no one knew about this. Also the report was not complete. The identity of the menace was unknown. The file were the menace was to be described was corrupted, it was as if the software had crashed at the middle of writing it.

It was a dead end!

Belldandy felt despair but it was too soon to give up, she clenched her fists then took a deep breath, closed her eyes and decided to try a different approach. She would search for the ADX program running into the system. With her new security level she should be able to take the software under her control and force it to give her the information. She logged into Yggdrasil and began searching but was interrupted; she heard a voice behind her.

- It's useless, there is no longer any active copy of ADX, it was destroyed and erased by an unknown program.

Belldandy was startled by the painful familiarity of the voice, even if she knew it came from a different person still it evoked strong memories. She paused for a moment, took a deep breath to recover and ponder about those words. Apparently he knew what was going on.

She turned slowly to see her visitor. She should not have been surprised by his presence, when he had requested a hearing she had accepted immediately and ordered the guards to let him pass without delay. Belldandy slowly levitated toward him and gently landed on the ground in front of the newcomer, she greeted him with a gentle nod and spoke with ceremony:

- Chancellor Mir, I haven't seen you since the death of my father. - then added with a reproachfully tone – Your voice reminds me his voice so much, my sisters and I missed you so much, at that moment you should have been with us. But I cannot do anything about what is already done; apparently fate has brought back my uncle in the most appropriate time.

And to the gods surprise, Belldandy forgot all protocol and embraced her uncle as if trying to recover all the lost time. Mir was touched by the warmth and loving embrace of the goddess. While he knew that technically she was the supreme authority of his world she also was her most beloved nice, the one he had deserted with a guilty conscience, he sighted and slowly closed his arms around her niece and for the first time in centuries, he felt his mind was in peace. He heard a gently sob coming from the beautiful goddess and wondered how could he would explain to her why he had been avoiding her for so much time.

xXx

Keiichi was in the kitchen at the Tarikihongan temple, the place kept reminding him about Belldandy and maybe that is why he enjoyed his new responsibilities. He was preparing a western style breakfast; the aroma of the freshly brewed coffee already filled the place. At first he had felt the aroma was too strong and out of place compared with the delicate blends that Belldany liked, but now began to enjoy it. Today, after seeing Belldandy´s message, he was filled with happiness and enjoyed those tasks more than ever. She had told him briefly what happened in the last days, while she did not offered detail, Keiichi could guess from the look in her eyes she had suffered and her plea to help Lind almost made him cry. Keiichi wished he could tell her about Lind, and how she was now sleeping a deep and restful sleep. At the end the promise that soon she would contact him made him immeasurably happy. Now as his hands moved almost automatically preparing food, his mind thought of all that his beloved goddess has told him, and looked forward to being able to communicate with her. She had sent instructions that he had to be alone at a specific time. Galileo would help him to open a link, and he would use his access codes. The expectation of speaking with Belldandy filled him with joy.

As soon as the breakfast was ready and placed on a tray he went to meet his guest. He knocked on the door of his room and entered without waiting for an answer.

There she was, absorbed in the screen of the powerful computer installed by the people of Chiba University was young Jenny Rosenthal, post- grad student and possessor of dangerous knowledge. Keiichi smiled at the thought of all this, it seemed incredible that someone so young could be the target of a terrorist group. She was so concentrated on her work that she had not heard him knock, then with a grunt, she paused yawning and tried stretching her legs. Apparently the Japanese style low desk from Keiichi was not very comfortable for a westerner, she twisted trying to shake the cramp feeling on her legs, suddenly she turned sharply. She just smelled the coffee and looked at Keiichi as a the passenger of shipwrecked boat that discovers a savior... then she tried to get up ... with little success.

Keiichi left the tray on the floor and quickly went to her aid.

- Rosenthal-San, Let me help you, I promise soon you will have a normal desk – Keiichi carefully helped her up, while she complained loudly trying to stretch her cramped legs.

- Ah!... I do not want to abuse your hospitality, but I do not think I can survive another day using that desk, I can't understand how you can use it... and please leave that "San" thing out, Just call me Jenny!.

Keiichi smiled at her discomfort, for a young genius of physics she seemed to be very human

- I am sorry, we are used to sitting like that since our childhood.- apologized Keiichi, he felt guilty and that make him nervous - But soon I will solve this problem Miss Jenny-san – The young girl wrinkled her nose to hear the double honorific, but did not say anything, she was too busy recovering her circulation. - Unfortunately we also do not have chairs in the dining room, - Jenny just grunted at the news – but today it's a beautiful day, so why don't you take your breakfast in the garden?, there you can sit more comfortably.

Jenny looked at him with curiosity, despite having lived there a few days; the layout of the temple still puzzled her. When they have told her she would be sent to a safe place, living in an old temple was the least she had expected, especially if it was a temple with a computer more powerful than anything she had use before. So she wondered...

- A garden? ... What kind of garden...?

Keiichi smiled at her discomfiture, as an answer he happily took the tray and directed the way.

Jenny could not help gasping as Keiichi opened the sliding door .It was very far from what she would have called "a garden": that motley collection of plants and grass from a Western garden. Yet garden or not, the place was beautiful. She had no way to know that place had been created by goddesses, as the original had been destroyed during the Battle of the temple. But even she, a committed materialist could feel there was something special in the place. There were not many plants, but they had an exquisite harmony. The place had rocks arranged with a soothing design and also there was a stretch of sand with mysterious drawings. Somehow there was magic in the air and Jenny soon forgot her sore back and cramped legs. Keiichi led her to the foot of a tree and there he placed the breakfast tray, she sat up and began to devour the food feeling renewed by the place. When she finished she felt the influence of the place and in magical way ideas began to surface in her mind. She was lost in her toughs but then remembered where she was, she told Keiichi:

- Thanks, the breakfast was delicious, now I must get back to work on... - she looked inside the temple and remembered the uncomfortable desk, then she looked around and wished to stay there but her mind was spilling with new information that needed to be captured, inspired by the peace and magic of this place.

Keiichi saw her internal conflicts, and perhaps because he was happy at the prospect of talking to Belldandy, he made a decision that would bring unexpected consequences. He mentally called Galileo. By now he did not need any device to communicate with him, the could share his mind with him.

- Galileo, have you seen the work that Rosenthal San is doing -. Galileo's voice softy echoed in his mind.

- Yes, they are quite advanced ideas, but with your primitive tools I don't think she can go far away.

- Could you do for her what you did with me? To install in her routines that would allow her to communicate directly with the computer? You can even help her with her work, so she can stay here. Belldandy will try to communicate with me and I need to be alone in my room.

- Keiichi san, There is no problem; I am certain she will be much more efficient.

Now Keiichi spoke to Jenny.

- Don´t worry, you do not need to return to the room, you can work from here. It can be arranged. I feel this place can give you inspiration for your work. If you approve it, Galileo can make some adjustments, you may fell something strange but please do not panic.

Jenny looked at him puzzled, she had already met the artificial intelligence called Galileo, but was completely unaware of his capabilities, and she had just regarded it as an interesting exercise in AI. And why on earth she would panic... She looked around and decided the only thing she was afraid of, was Keiichi´s Desk.

- mmh.. Ok, Do whatever you need to. Anything except to work on that...

She opened her mouth to say something, but she simply froze. A soft light enveloped her from the cell phone she was carrying, by now Galileo could now use as a base any device connected to the network and use it in amazing ways. Jenny appeared to be petrified, when suddenly the light disappeared and she moved again. Never knowing something had happened, yet blinked and looked around.

Keiichi could see information screens materializing around her. He knew only the two of them could see them since they only existed in their minds, but no matter, for them, they were real.

Jenny extended a hand and realized she could control the screen. She put her attention on another and started to explore it´s functions and modules. Keiichi guessed Galileo was guiding her. Keiichi peek at the last screen and recognize advanced simulation models that could allow her to test her theories and equations... Keiichi began to wonder if he had done right. Jenny on the other hand had discovered that information seemed to go straight from her brain to the computer and it answered all her wishes. Her face was now flooded with an expression of almost childlike curiosity and immediately she began to attempt to manipulate everything. Fascinated by the results she soon began to explore the rest of the modules while in her head Galileo´s voice spoke softly guiding her through them.

Keiichi smiled at the girl, she seemed like a child who had discovered so many wonders, but his expression gradually began to change to one of amazement when he noticed how fast the girl was learning to handle the complex interface and soon she began to explore a world of complex equations and concepts that he could hardly understand. He considered himself a very competent engineer, but soon he saw the difference between an expert engineer and a simple genius. That girl could soar through concepts of dimensions, time and space that he could never dream to understand

- End of chapter XXXV-

Notes:

After reviewing my notes about the characters for the story, I realized that due their numbers it's easy to forget who is who, so I decided to post here some of my notes on each one. They are not exhaustive, but I hope they are interesting enough and make easier to follow the story.

I divide them in mortals, gods, demons and software:

Mortals:

• Kenji Shugahara: Specialist on ethno botanical Studies related to European traditions, with diverse knowledge on ancient Norman, and related European languages, also has knowledge on folk medicine, some stereochemistry, and any other topic that inspires his curiosity. His immense enthusiasm and persuasiveness allow him to convince many people to cooperate with him allowing him to accomplish goals that could never achieve alone, his studies take him to learn the old myths about goddess Urth and somehow get in love with her. He works at the University of Chiba, he is about 32 years and it's the author of several popular books.
Note: this is a fictional character, which has no relationship with the professor of the same name that works at the Chiba University...

• Professor Shubashini Sripathi - Professor of medicine and Ethnobotany, at Bombay University, he meets Dr Shugahara as member of the society of primates.

• Somasindhu Parthasarathi. A young Hindu from the untouchable caste, with an extraordinary innate ability to heal by understanding the origins of sickness, hi dreams to become a doctor. He witnesses the death of the goddess Giörel. His memory was erased by the Valkyrie, but the magic from Giörel tears in her presentation card allowed him to remember everything, he decides to publish his story on a blog where it´s discovered by professor Shubashini Sripathi who in turn informs Shugahara.

• Professor Jan Krogh Danielsen, he works at the University of Oslo, he is a specialist in old European languages. He is in charge of digital reconstruction of Urth´s palimpsest. As a descendant of the almost legendary Widuking the Saxon, has a striking resemblance to Fafnir, his family kept many manuscripts and materials from Urth´s Sisterhood for centuries.

• Fafnir, it´s the nickname after which hid his identity Duke Bruno Sachsen, the last children of Widuking the Saxon. He becomes a ruined noble by Charlemagne invasion, he wandered around Jutland dreaming someday to regain his status, and there he met goddess Urth. Both fell in love but were separated when Urth broke havens laws trying to save Fafnir´s live. Urth left him for dead and for that reason she was filled with bitterness so she became a rebellious and cynical goddess. Fafnir survived and banded together the Urd´s sisterhood and preserved her notebook, he finally leaved instructions to the descendants of his family to give the surviving medallions and her notes if she ever returned to earth.

• Mai-m-mîn, he is the village leader and shaman of the Mîr people there are less than a hundred people, they are the survivors of the first people who lived in India. They most coveted secret was guarding one of the Hild's tears. It was the first contact Shugahara had with the legends about Hild.

• Yukiko Ohta, She is associate professor, and specialist in physic of condensed matter. She is a woman of about 40 years, rarely wears makeup and her hair is arranged in a severe cut, she is a tireless worker and her severity it's only apparent.

• Takashi Yoshida, Associate Researcher, he works in the area of high energy physics, he 25 years old, he uses a bright and colorful shirt, jeans and long hair, as many mathematical and theoretical young scientists. He is a person with an easy laugh, and feels powerfully attracted to Ghadril the Valkyrie .

• Shigeru Nakayama, Associate Researcher, works in the area of nanoscience, he is a taciturn people, about 35 years old he is tall and formal attitude, but can change to a child like attitude when founds something interesting.

• Professor Yoichiro Nambu Nobel prize in physics, he former member of the physics department of the Tokyo University and founding member of the LHC, currently he teachers at Chicago University and he is Jenny Rosenthal supervisor.

• Jenny Rosenthal. She is a brilliant American student. She is a 21 years old physics graduate working toward her doctoral grade. She feels like a misunderstood genius though his supervisor, Professor Yoichiro Nambu, is very well aware of her capabilities. Her genius led her to be able to duplicate and optimize the crystals that are the basis of Urd´s magic potions, and gives mortals access to a terrible source of power. When that information is leaked out she is kidnapped by a group of terrorists that wish to use her knowledge for destructive purposes. She is addicted to coffee and has little regard to her superiors. She fells attracted romantically to Jean Valois

• Jean Valois. Former member of the French army, discharged with honors after he suffered combat wounds in Afghanistan and now works as a skilled bodyguard for a security firm. For his ability he is assigned to take care of VVIPs. Originally he was an idealist but was beaten by the reality of war, which made him a pragmatist who only does the job. After meeting Jenny Rosenthal and her potential importance to the future of humanity he will return to his youthful ideals.

• Dr Adlene Hervieux. He was born in a small town in one of the former French colonies. He starts his career as a young genius that manages to enter the world of science in spite of coming from a very poor background. He becomes a brilliant scientist whose political activism takes him to jail where he is rescued by CERN´s director. His crime was a series of letter to the public where he denounced abuses against his people and having an exchange of emails with a man who turned out to be a suspected terrorist. After obtaining his freedom, his frustration and his activism led him to fall into the clutches of a terrorist group who were using his relatives as hostages to force him to act and betray CERN´s director.

• Dr. Edoardo Amaldi. CERN Director and close friend of Dr Yoichiro Nambu. A successful scientist with great a political skill, he does not hesitate to use it in order to maintain the CERN working with the right resources. A pragmatic and with great ability to assess people´s capabilities. After rescuing Dr Adlene Hervieux from prison because he recognizes his work as a scientist, he knows he cannot fully trust him so he orders to the IT manager to monitor his activities. That lets him to know about his betrayal. He shares Dr Shugahara vision on the need to reveal to the world the existence of gods and demons, but also is aware of how dangerous it could be.

• Dr Izuka Kawazu, Founder of the Fuzzy Logic Institute. Specialist in neural networks and artificial intelligence systems, Skuld is one of his fans, so Shugahara arranges her to meet him. Dr Kawazu recognizes that Skuld has extraordinary knowledge and gets her to reveal some knowledge of the technology from the gods.

• The man with the beard. An anonymous terrorist, he is a ruthless and cruel man. He is the result of a childhood full of injustices and he thinks the only path to follow is violence, his true identity is unknown but has great influence among other terrorist groups .After Hervieux leaks information he orders to kidnap Jenny Rosenthal in order to be able to use her knowledge and get a weapon of mass destruction.

some minor characters:

• Dr Leon Jorge Rivera. A minor character. He manages a small archaeological museum in Mexico City. He helps Dr Shugahara to retrieve one of Hild´s tears.

• Dr Shinobu Kitayama. A real scientist. Specialist in the study of happiness.

• Sir Richard Evans Schultes, he is a real person (now deceased) but I took some dramatic liberties in this story. He is the founder of the science of Ethnobotany and was proud both of his Ph D and his Shaman title, so he would have been fascinated with Urd's potions.

• Amasima. He is an Amazonian Shaman who is cured from an incipient cancer by Dr Shugahara.

• Giorgio Vaglia, He began his career as a photographer of wildlife documentaries, but now he is using his experience to be able to hide and watch the strangest of all animals: humans. He is now a freelance photographer specialized in conflicts in remote locations.

• Vincenzo D'Angelo. Successful editor of a news agency, his star photographer is Giorgio Vaglia. He has hi offices in Milan and he is a workaholic. He has a high school daughter and New Age fan. Despite having a high ethical standard, he does have no doubts at bending some rules for having first rate news.

Computers and Software:

• Predictive defense software ADX-654. It´s a process generated by another task of the ADX software series. It was spawned to keep the information safe from attack and founds refuge in Keiichi computer; however it was damaged and had incomplete encrypted data so it cannot retrieve it´s memories. Due to the damage in its code, this artificial intelligence began to developed conscience. It recognized Keiichi as its Sysop until it is given the status of free individual under the name of Galileo. He also accepts the three robotics law by Asimov.

• Nidhogg it's the supercomputer from hell, and Yggdrasil twin

• Yggdrasil. The vast supercomputer that controls all aspects of the universe of gods, also provides them with energy and power, it also has some control of aspects of the humans universe.

Gods:

• Giörel: Goddess First Class, a young goddess. She has just finished her training. She admires Belldandy and tries to emulate her, she even dreams to fall in love to a mortal. Her first work was at the goddesses support Office. On her first assignment granting wishes she was attacked and killed by monstrous being from unknown origin. It´s her death what prompts Shugahara to seek "power" to protect Urd, and in turn he discovers Hild´s tears.

• Ghadril, A Valkyrie member of the main elite squad she gets romantically involved with Professor Takashi Yoshida therefore she requests stay on the mortal world to observe the flow of his entire mortal life to preserve his memory. This takes her to know the heart of mortals and that knowledge allowed her to intervene in a profound way on them.

• Chrono. It´s based on the original character. She was a second class Goddess who worked under the orders of Peorth overseeing the operation of Yggdrasil, and then she requested to be a Valkyrie, despite being so young, Lind approved her and eventually selected her as her aid at the Elite squad. When the Ragna code was invoked and the chain of command of the Valkyrie is broken, she is temporary selected by Belldandy to take command of the elite squad, even if there were other Valkyrie of higher rank.

• Othala. Along with Lind, she is one of the oldest Valkyrie at the elite squad, her position as healer, her friendship with Lind and her seniority allows her to express her points of view and discuss matters more freely than the rules would allow a Valkyrie.

• Herja, Oth, Rota, Alruna and Eir. Along with Lind they were part of the supreme council of Valkyrie, but were executed as a result of the activation of Ragna protocol at Lind´s request.

• Thrud, a young third-class recruit and aspiring Valkyrie. Despite being a new entrants, because the cool head and their ability to react to the crisis, Lind designates her as commander of the third phylum of recruits,

• Chancellor Myr: one of the architects of Yggdrasil. He is a reluctant member of the High council, because he does not like the responsibilities, he prefers to assign them if possible to other people, acting only as a "consultant". He is brother and rival of Chancellor Tyr, to whom had an antagonistic relationship, not only for having a completely an opposite word vision, but because he loved the same goddess, Belldandy's mother.

• Chancellor Tyr. He is Belldandy father, unlike his brother Myr; he has no doubts to use power as a means of achieving their goals. Since in the original OMG, never had stated that Belldandy's father was Kamisama I chose him to be just a high level god. Later in the OMG universe we learned that Belldandy's father is not Kamisama but the Daitenkaicho. Tyr has a plan to unify heaven and hell, and has no doubt in manipulating the ones he profess to love: Hild, Belldandy, Urd , Skull and Belldandy's mother, but his untimely death prevented him to accomplish it, yet he hid avatars into the Norns , and they attempt to accomplish his original plans.

Demons:

• Marler. I took some departures from the original character. She is a first class Demon, Urd´s childhood friend and Hild´s close collaborator. Hild gave him the mission of caring for Urd, and that no one should knew of her actions, which led her to play the part of a foolish and inept demon. After she helps to save Hild´s life she is designated Hild's Druhting (Steward).

• Anang Rah: a second class demon, son of sheik Anang -Reng. His fascination with mortals took him to know Marler, who was allocated to live in the mortal world and shared his fascination. That allowed him to stop feeling contempt for mortals. He was attracted by Marler, despite the low opinion in general demons had about her. He lead a faction of demons loyal (with some reservations) to Hild, despite her being the hated rival of his father. He died after being selected for the doublet system for execution due the death of the goddess Giörel. His death convinces Marler to bring his posthumous message to Hild as a way to convince her to get in touch with his followers. This will save Hild´s life and eventually lead to a different attitude from Hild towards her people

• Anang-Reng. He holds the title of Shaik, one of the lider of the Great Council lf Hell, the Shaik are next in hierarchy after Hild. The title is hereditary, yet it has to be ratifying by merits in combat. He is the most powerful of the Shaik and his power is almost at par with Hild. He is not happy with the current peace with heaven, so he wishes to overturn Hild to get the title of Daimakaicho. He died in a duel with Hild (She almost died) but his conscience was preserved by a strange and hostile entity.

• Walharen, third class demon, a bright and intelligent assistant to Nidhogg Sysop. While he is very good at his work, he aspires to the most prestigious occupation in hell: warrior. But despite having good performance in his tests, his boos blocks him for that position, because he is really the one that knows about Nidhogg. His knowledge of the system allows him to help to save Hild's life, after that Hild promotes him as the new supervisor of Nidhogg and considers him a trustworthy demon-

• Bragg, a member of Hild's elite guard. Like all elite guards, he was magically transformed from a common demon into a powerful being hypertrophied muscles, with immunity to most magical attack and had a loyalty spell that impairs his ability to think except on matters related to his duty. As one of the most skilled guards in combat, he was assigned to protect the young princess Urd when she lived in the great palace, until he was wounded during an attempt to kill Urd, and was replaced by another guard. Upon Urd returning to the palace, he asks for his old assignment and Hild granted his petition... He is under a loyalty spell which limits his ability to think but the spell is broken by Urd with a potion. It is extremely protective toward his "little Princess" and does not hesitate to sacrifice his life for her.

• Woddin or Wotan. A peaceful specialist in ancient magical songs (an area much unappreciated by demons) but really a strong Hild´s supporter, and hidden admirer. As a child Urd disliked him so much that as a joke she used him to create the stories about Odin (Woddin), and thus creating the Norse mythology. At her return to Hell, Urd discovers that behind his peaceful appearance he is one of the most powerful demons, who is only interested in the welfare his world and thinks Hild, with all her quirks, is still the best option. In order to support her, he pretends to be a harmless absentminded pompous old demon.

• Shulgi an Ekur. Originally they were to low rank demon bureaucrats that assisted the Palace librarian, yet they volunteer to help Hild to retake her palace. Because Urd needed them to have authority over the reserve guard, she named them temporarily as Supreme commanders of the army of Hell. Hild subsequently would ratify them in office for their services.

• Hjörþrimul, Sanngríðr and Svipul. They're the name and code of three leaders of the reserve guard maintained in suspension in the deepest underground of Hild´s Palace. Their name was a secret so nobody could use them, except Hild, who taught their names as song to Urd, without telling her it´s meaning