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-30-

It was the sound of a pair of blood-curdling screams that drew Urd's attention in the forest. She froze, the sound chilling her veins after five, close to six hours of stress, anger, and pain had worn on her nerves like an open wound. "Bel-?" Two figures collided with her before the Norn even had the opportunity to speak her sibling's name, and with a shout nowhere near as terrible, she fell to the ground. Buried at the bottom of a dogpile of goddesses, Urd scrambled to free herself, her body frenzied and screaming that something was wrong before she recognized the two who'd tripped across her. The fight drained out as relief flooded into her, and with a loud sigh the Norn allowed her head to thump against the earth, uncaring of the soil that clung to her cheek.

"Found her," she muttered. "Thank Yggdrasil for small blessings." Grunting, she shimmied a hand to the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her cellphone, sending a quick text to Skuld and Keiichi.

On top of her, Belldandy and Peorth were wailing incoherent nonsense.

"…was a beast of Niflheim!" Peorth cried. "All fangs and teeth!"

"It was an opossum!" Belldandy exclaimed. "An opossum!"

"And nothing but hate and rage and vengeance and-"

"An opossum, Urd! I've never seen one before, it was huge!"

Urd moaned at the cries above her head. I don't have the patience for this right now, she thought dourly. "Off!" she snapped, flaring her aura in warning. Twin shouts met her ears, and all at once Urd was free to pick herself up off the ground. She rose with a grimace, brushing soil, leaves and pine needles from her shirt and pants. She turned to the two of them only to find them still talking over each other like a pair of crows fighting over roadkill. Urd's brow twitched, her irritation growing past the level of safe and closer to that dangerous red line that seeped into anger. She bared her teeth without meaning to, felt the first bit of a growl rumble in the back of her throat, and had to stop herself from snarling at the duo like some deranged animal. Urd, you're better than this, the voice of her old mentor scolded her. Not here. Not right now. There's time for that later.

"It was a local!? How on Midgard did such a-"

"Creature so filled with madness and cruelty and, and-"

"It was horrible! Like a starved rat with its fur falling out! How could such a-"

"Beast can't possibly be from this world! It must have immigrated from Niflheim, certainly! And-"

But they make it so hard, Nana... she thought back, and forced herself to take a deep breath. Her phone chirped as it received a text, and Urd took the opportunity to ignore the two howling idiots before her in favor of the message Skuld had sent her. She sent a reply, then searched through a web browser and pulled up a picture. The woman brought her hands to her lips and produced a sharp, ear-splitting whistle. At once Belldandy and Peorth ceased their obnoxious prattling and looked at her. "You saw a possum." She held up her phone for the two to see, displaying the creature in question. "Here. In Virginia."

Apparently the Australian possum she displayed was not, in fact, the creature Belldandy and Peorth were freaking out over. They made this fact very well known to Urd.

"No! That's not it-" Belldandy started

"That thing is cute and adorable and-"

"This one was cruel and mean-"

"And this looks so sweet and cuddly rather than-"

"Ugly and filled with spite and-"

"That looks like it could hail from Asgard! Not like-"

"A rabid beast that hissed at us!"

Urd stared at the duo, unamused. "I'm going back to the house."

"You don't believe us?!" Both Belldandy and Peorth said together.

Urd sighed and squeezed the bridge of her nose in frustration. "It's not that I don't believe you," she said. "It's just that I don't care." She had not torn up the entire second floor and then the surrounding woods in a panic just for her missing sister to barrel into her with Peorth screaming about fucking possums. Let someone else deal with this bullshit. She had neither the time nor the fucks to give to this mess right now.

The woman turned and proceeded towards the direction of the house, still out of sight through the forest's treeline, and with a pair of yelps Belldandy and Peorth chased after her. Perhaps sensing her rising anger, the two of them abandoned their argument over whatever beast they'd seen, and an almost blissful- though tense- silence descended on the trio. It was a little over a mile to the house still, and in the quiet Urd was left to stew in her own thoughts, trying to keep calm near Belldandy as the anger from World of Elegance's side of the link flowed into her. One of the downsides of having an angel, in retrospect, was that they shared everything: good, bad, or otherwise.

Still, she was relieved to have Belldandy back, even if it was only to allow Urd to yell at her later. Belldandy's attack on Keiichi was bad enough, but to then flee the house with her angel sick next door while fearing reprisal was another thing entirely. It angered the Norn; and to combine that with the ongoing stress she was already dealing with from sleep deprivation, exhaustion, dread, and irritation, it was leaving the goddess with the desire to lash out.

She stomped her foot down on that feeling with all her might.

Yet like a serpent, it writhed beneath her boot, and Urd was growing increasingly aware that if she didn't lift her foot and let it go soon, then it was liable to lash out at her, and that would create a whole new situation that no one in the house was prepared to deal with.

Keiichi, Skuld, and Lind were all waiting for them in the cleared field that made up Keiichi's backyard. Belldandy stopped abruptly, and Urd paused as well. "Let's go, Belldandy," Urd growled.

Belldandy looked to her, then back to Keiichi, suddenly white as a sheet. Peorth was more sympathetic. "You came here to see your angel, remember?" she said as she tried to coax the goddess forward. "You know you must also face Keiichi. Come. I feel it may be better to confront this sooner rather than later."

While not the most encouraging of words, they were enough to get Belldandy moving once more. All three of them proceeded towards the house, where Keiichi and Skuld trotted up to meet them. "You found Belldandy." Skuld looked relieved. "Thank Yggdrasil."

Urd shook her head and pushed past them both without a word, and, confused, Keiichi reached out for her. "Urd, wa-" Sparks leapt from her shoulder and stung him before the man could touch her, and he shouted in surprise as he yanked his hand back.

"Urd?!" Skuld whirled to follow her sister in alarm, yet Urd still said nothing, proceeding inside through the porch's back door. "Fuck," she swore. "This is bad..." She looked at Lind, who was already rushing after Urd. The door slammed shut behind her. The goddess looked back to Belldandy, Peorth, and Keiichi, torn.

Peorth hesitated, then approached Skuld. "Let's give them some privacy," she advised, sending a glance to Keiichi. The man was staring at the house, rubbing his hand with a thoughtful frown on his face. He looked back to the two goddesses in question, and when they said nothing his eyes turned to Belldandy.

Skuld shook her head. "Go inside," she advised. "I... think I need to stay."

Peorth frowned. "They deserve some privacy."

"And someone needs to be around in case things get too heated," Skuld replied. "I won't interfere. I don't even want to be here for this. But if things start heading south, I want to make sure we don't have any repeat incidents of this morning."

Peorth eyed her, but Skuld said nothing more on the topic, instead turning away from the goddess to watch the approaching couple. The Rose Goddess bit her lip, scowled, then headed towards the house as well with a muttered, "Ou y'en a charogne y'en a Carencro..."

In the yard, Keiichi stopped a few feet away from Belldandy. "You ran away." His face gave nothing away.

The goddess cringed. "Keiichi-"

"I'm sorry." The man interrupted. "I didn't mean to-" He scratched the back of his head, then released a breath he had been holding. "I must have really fucked up to make you run like that, huh?" Belldandy stared at him in mute shock, and the look on her face made him pause. "It's... it's not that, is it."

"Keiichi... how much of last night do you remember?" Belldandy asked, and there was dread in her voice, dread and worry of the type that sent him falling to the past, where another woman looked at him with worry and fear and asked a similar question. His chest constricted with agitation, and the SEAL fell silent, staring at Belldandy with dawning horror as he wracked his memory for his last moments.

"I..." His voice failed him in that moment, and Keiichi swallowed and tried again. "We were together," he whispered. "We were together, just the two of us, and-" He watched Belldandy's lips peel back in a grimace, watched her try to bite back her own grief, and at once jumped to his own conclusion. "Oh god, Bell, I'm so sorry."

Belldandy flinched at the apology. "Stop saying that," she whispered.

"But I am!" Keiichi cried. "I must have-" He paused. Was it a flashback? One of the same severity that had made Deb flee? But he'd not had a flashback in years! Was it his conversation with Belldandy that had spurred it? Dusting off old memories, picking at old scars, polishing off the metal of the ol' six shooter and playing a favored round of Russian Roulette? Spin the chamber round and round and pull the trigger, will it click or go boom? "Fuck." He took a step back from her as he said it. "Belldandy, what happened last night?" He asked. "I didn't hurt you, did I? Fuck, I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

"Stop apologizing!" Belldandy screamed, and Keiichi froze, startled at the sheer desperation in the Norn's voice. "Why are you apologizing? Stop it! Stop it this instant!" She stepped towards him, thrusting herself into her personal space. There were tears in her eyes, tears that flowed freely down her cheeks, and with growing dread it dawned on Keiichi that maybe it hadn't been him who'd had a flashback. "It should be me apologizing! Me begging your forgiveness, Keiichi! Me!"

He stared at the goddess with wide eyes, and as Belldandy wept before him little snippets of memory came back to him, dusting themselves off from the ashes of his hazy subconscious to throw voices in his ears. "Toshiyuki." The name left his lips in a whisper. "You called me 'Toshiyuki'- you- you called out his name!" The man jerked away from the goddess, appalled. "You- why the fuck would you call me by his name?" He'd been wrong then. Not a flashback at all but something else entirely.

Belldandy shook her head. "That's not-"

"No, hold up." Keiichi's voice lowered, deepening with the onset of anger. "You— we were making out. You and me. Alone. And you called me by his name." He stared at the woman in disbelief. "Is that who I am to you? Did what I did so resemble his- his caresses that you forget who's holding you in his arms? Am I so indistinguishable from him that you lump me in the same category as him?"

"NO!" Belldandy shrieked.

"THEN WHY THE FUCK DID YOU CALL ME BY HIS NAME?" Keiichi roared. He tugged at his hair, throwing an accusing glance at the woman before him. "What am I supposed to take from this, Belldandy? What the fuck am I supposed to do knowing that, to you, I bring forth the image of your ex-husband?!"

"Don't call him that!" Belldandy shouted. "I want nothing to do with him, nothing!" She bared her teeth in anger, in desperation, in hurt, yet Keiichi was hurting too god damn it, and he stood his ground, meeting her livid gaze with a challenge of his own. "I had a flashback, you cretin! I- I tried to kill you!"

It was like someone had dunked his head into ice water. Any further argument he had died in his throat. He stared at her and tried to speak, tried to breathe, only to find his lungs somehow devoid of air. "You touched me," Belldandy continued. "Yes, you touched me! And I enjoyed it, yes! This is true! But you-" She gnashed her teeth, and for a moment her face took on a look of such potent rage that Keiichi's arms broke into gooseflesh. "You did- something. Touched me in a manner that he did. Not all at once but on one occasion, and for just that moment I was- I was-" Words failed her, and she screamed, a shrill sound that left him feeling as though he'd been punched in the gut. He could see energy pulsing off her; her aura, rising and rippling the air around her like heat waves.

A sense of unease fell over him as he watched her, and all at once he found himself back in a bedroom, staring up at a sky filled with a small glimpse of the ever-expanding universe and the madness that dwelt within. All at once he recalled the chaos presented to him as he sought to understand it, and how it had left him raving in that moment. All at once he remembered how miniscule he was in comparison to the woman before him, who had never before lashed out at him but who still held the power to crush him like an ant if she so desired. He felt the aura surrounding her and sensed the emotions that roiled within, and was afraid. There was anger in that aura. Anger and hate so black and spiteful he feared it might devour him if he should move closer, and so instead Keiichi stumbled back, putting distance between them.

Belldandy didn't follow him. Instead she fell to her knees, clutching her head as she groaned in agony. "I remember it all. It's all so clear, Yggdrasil be blessed!" she mourned. "I came to you, you came with me, we conversed, we kissed, we grew intimate…" She paused, her lips quivering.

"And I struck you down when you were most vulnerable!" she cried. "You were so gentle... gentle like he never was, and I let my guard down, I relaxed, I allowed myself to feel and… and then he was there! Leering at me like the demon who held his contract, and I- I couldn't control myself!" she moaned, and a broken sob forced its way past her lips. "All the anger, all the hate, all the pain! I-it overwhelmed me!"

Keiichi felt a vice take hold in his chest. "What did you do to me, Belldandy?" The words came out in a whisper.

Belldandy heard him still. "I threw him off me. Threw you off me. And I advanced." She shook her head, uttered a peal of pure despair, and continued on. "I became a beast of vengeance. My eyes at that time- there was only him, only Toshiyuki, and only the hate- that cancer- he had so left to rot in my breast. I wanted him dead. I wanted him gone, and by the Heavens did I not act on that imperative?"

"What did you do to me, Belldandy?" Keiichi repeated, in a louder voice this time. There was fear in his address.

"I murdered you!" Belldandy screamed, and her words were damning.

Damning for her.

Damning for him.

Damning for the relationship they had fostered like a newborn.

"It is all clear to me now. There was no 'almost', the motive was clear. The desire was clear. The intent was clear." She stared at him with wild blue eyes, blue eyes that were almost feral in their desperation and Keiichi felt a shudder traverse the length of his spine. "I held you by the throat and choked the life from you! Bit by bit I felt your life fade from you. Bit. By. Bit! Yggdrasil, forgive me, I felt your life fade beneath my hand- felt his life fade at my touch, and I enjoyed it! I enjoyed every second of it!"

Keiichi brought a hand to his throat. It suddenly felt hard to breathe. Like a hand was choking him. Like he was trying to speak and could not. Like a pair of eyes, wild, fanatical blue eyes were glaring into his as his flailing limbs turned to lead and his head grew light. And a light, bright and burning with the imprint of a person reaching for him, reaching for those mad blue eyes and- "But I'm here." His voice trembled. "I- you didn't kill me, because otherwise I wouldn't be here."

"Skuld stopped me from ripping off your head," Belldandy said quietly as she bowed her head, unable to look at him. Her voice had become a whisper. "I remember it now. Yes. All of it. The angels and Skuld prevented me from finishing the deed. And... Urd was it? Yes... Urd brought you back. Thank Yggdrasil for the two of them... had they not-" Her body swayed as it was wracked with sobs, yet Keiichi did not reach out for her.

He couldn't.

Not now.

His eyes wheeled to Skuld. The woman watched them from the sidelines, and in her face he saw that Belldandy was speaking the truth. "But there was something else," he told her. "I saw something- I know I saw something else. A light. A person in the light. What was that?!"

"Belldandy's last attempt to stop herself," Skuld replied. Her voice was so gentle he thought it cruel. "Alone it... wouldn't have been enough. I helped. Urd helped. And so you're alive."

Keiichi stared at Skuld, and then found his eyes drifting once more to Belldandy. The goddess presented a pitiful sight; a woman guilty of sin and who knowingly regretted her actions, awaiting the verdict of those who'd been wronged. He saw her and felt his heart twist into a knot. Felt guilt war with blame, anger war with sadness, hate rage with love. Uncertainty filled his core, and distressed over the sight, the SEAL dropped his gaze. This wasn't a war. This wasn't a combat zone. This wasn't even a disgruntled national who'd been given a gun and pointed in the correct direction to shoot. This was... this was the woman he loved. The woman he'd fought so hard to bring into his life, to comfort, to offer kindness to in times of despair. This was the woman who had called him by her enemy's name.

This was the woman who had killed him.

It was too much to handle all at once. Too much to take. With Belldandy's broken and sobbing form still burned into his mind's eye, Keiichi Morisato turned and walked away.

XXX

The living room was filled with the four divine occupants who'd come to occupy his house when Keiichi went inside. The Cheech look-a-like, Nabu or whoever, was sitting on the la-z-boy speaking to Urd, who sat nestled between Lind and Peorth on the couch.

"The return is just for a little while, Kyz. Enough for the both of you to get some rest. You're running each other ragged with everything that's been going on, and I got some real concerns for the both of you."

"And Holy Bell?" Urd wasn't even looking at the man. Her head was bowed, propped up with both hands from where she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. "World of Elegance and I can take it, but..."

"Don't worry about Holy Bell," the man assured. "You can't be worrying 'bout others when you ain't looking out for yourself, ya' know? I got that bit under control, but until then, you got to get some rest."

Urd didn't respond.

Peorth was the one to notice Keiichi's arrival. "Monsieur, are you well?" she asked, and Nebo fell quiet as he and Lind looked up to the SEAL in question.

Keiichi ignored her. "Urd, we need to talk."

Urd sent him a sidelong glance from her position on the couch, and Nebo rose from the recliner. "Hey, Lum, can you give us a moment?" He smiled at Keiichi, who found himself with the sudden desire to punch the shorter man in the face. "We trying to work some stuff out here for Belldandy's sake."

"No," Keiichi said, his voice firm and low. "And I would ask you to ever so kindly fuck off." The smile fell from Nebo's lips. "There's been a massive amount of fuckery going on in my house, and I've been left in the dark for too long. I've got questions, Urd's got answers, and I am going to get a full run down on what has happened in the past twelve hours."

"Wow, Lum." The man raised his hands in front of his chest. "How 'bout you calm down a bit. Ain't no reason to throw a tantrum."

"Throw a tantrum?" Keiichi stared at the man in disbelief. "I just found out that the woman I love fucking murdered me, and you think my anger is so petty as to be called a motherfucking tantrum?" He glared at the man, the air growing tense. "Who the fuck you think you are? You come walking into my house without my permission and now you're talking down to me like I'm some four year old? Go piss off a cliff or get the fuck out of my way. I need to talk to Urd."

Nebo's eyes darted to the women on the couch, then back up to Keiichi. The SEAL, while not a giant like his commanding officer, was taller than him by a good four or five inches. It made him a more intimidating figure when combined with Keiichi's muscular physique, yet Nebo remained unfazed. "We gonna play this game right now?" The man's voice dropped to a whisper so low Keiichi almost didn't hear it. "In front of the ladies?" The mortal bristled at the words, and his hands clenched into a pair of tight fists as he glared at the god. "Back off, Boy." Nebo's lips barely moved. "Cool your heels before you wind up in so much hot water you boil yourself alive."

"I'm not taking shit from a five-foot nothing twig." Keiichi matched his tone word for word. "Now if we need to take this outside, then by all means. But I'm owed an explanation, and I'll be damned if I let some asshole who forced his way into my house talk down to me like a child."

"Nebo. Morisato." Lind was starting to rise from the couch now, and now there was a warning note in her voice as well. "Both of you back away from each other. Right. Now."

Neither man moved. The tension in the air grew thicker. Peorth began to fidget.

"That's enough, both of you." Urd dropped her hands with a sigh and rose to her feet. "Lind, Nebo, go sit down. Keiichi, let's go upstairs and talk." She rubbed her face with one hand before letting it drop.

Lind eyed her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. If it will keep Nebo from blowing his head off, then yes, I'm sure." Urd sighed, looking all at once drawn and tired. "Upstairs Keiichi. Now."

Keiichi stared at the woman, trembling in his anger. Urd's expression may as well have been set in stone. The SEAL looked away first, then turned and proceeded down the hall and up the staircase to the second floor. As soon as he was gone Urd's shoulders sagged in defeat. Nebo touched her elbow, his own anger abandoned in lieu of concern. "Kyz, you sure?" The woman looked down at him, meeting his worried brown eyes with her own exhausted violet. "You ain't in the right frame a' mind to be talking with that guy. He don't feel right. Too many black emotions riding on his shoulders."

Urd smiled. It looked wan and fake on her face. "It's fine, Nebo." But the god looked unconvinced. All three of them looked unconvinced. "Someone's got to keep the peace, right? I'll calm him down and try and explain everything to him, and then we can get back to what needs to happen for Holy Bell, all right?" She glanced at Lind. "Think you can check on Belldandy and Skuld for me?"

"Yes." Lind nodded.

"Thanks." The goddess sighed, then proceeded after Keiichi, climbing the staircase with heavy steps, as though the deity was weighed down by some invisible force. Her feet seemed to drag with every step.

All three of the remaining divinities watched her vanish up the staircase in a heavy silence. When she was out of sight, Peorth looked to Lind. "I'll go check on Belldandy and Skuld," she announced. "I... know Belldandy better. And at this point... I believe Urd needs you more than Belldandy."

Lind stared at the Rose Goddess before inclining her head in silent agreement. Peorth departed the living room for he back door leading outside, and Lind moved towards the staircase. Nebo caught her in passing. "Leave her be a moment," he said. "Give her an opportunity to speak with the lum, fool boy he is."

Lind paused, tearing her gaze from the Tic and to the staircase, then back to Nebo. "I'm worried about them." She hesitated a moment, then continued. "Urd... she loves him. Morisato. And he loves Belldandy."

Nebo's eyes widened in new understanding, and he too looked at the staircase, his face growing strained. "Does that fool know?"

"I don't know."

Nebo sighed heavily, his brows scrunching together as he massaged his temples. "That fool-man has the love of not one, but two goddesses?" He shook his head. "How in the nine dominions—" He froze, and his eyes widened. "Oh, Lordy-lou. And if what that man said about Belldandy is true-"

"That's why I'm worried," Lind murmured.

"This is bad, Kyz."

"I know."

"This is real bad, Lind."

"I know."

"By Anzu's sweet waters, thank Tehome's depths her angel is back with her." The man shook his head, then looked at Lind. "If you sense anything, get her out of there, understand? I don't care if it's a false alarm, I don't care if she protests, I don't care if the two of 'em are having a fuck fest in the room next door. Get Urd out of here."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Lind muttered. She looked relieved. "As soon as I sense a change in her aura, we're both gone. That's a promise, Nebo."

The man nodded. "You're a good person, Lind."

"Try telling that to Urd after I haul her ass out of the house."

XXX

Urd found Keiichi pacing the length of the hallway when she went upstairs. His eyes were fixed on the door to Belldandy's room, and in her breast she felt World of Elegance stir, tired but alert all at once with the man's proximity to her choir. Easy. She thought. Take it easy. He hasn't tried to snoop yet. He's good, World of Elegance. So are we. She sensed a pair of wings shift and sigh, felt the unease of her angel melt into her own discomfort, and did her best to shove it off to the side. It was growing harder with every passing hour.

Keiichi turned when he came near Urd's room and paused when his eyes met hers. He stared at her expectantly. "My room," Urd said.

Without a word, Keiichi pushed open the door to Urd's room and went inside, and feeling a looming dread rising in her chest, Urd followed after him. The man was leaning against a far wall when she entered, observing the bed, empty of all but its base sheets, and the hole in the wall Urd had created in a spark of temper.

His eyes darted to the Norn as she entered. "What the fuck is going on, Urd?" He demanded.

Urd collapsed on the bed with a sigh. "A lot," she grumbled.

"Could you be any more vague?" Keiichi shot her a glare. "Don't play games with me, Urd. I'm fucking pissed right now."

"Well join the fucking club!" Urd exclaimed. "While you were dreaming of fucking my sister, I've been busy trying to keep this entire house together between you, Belldandy, and Skuld, all right? So let me cry my fucking pardon Sai, if my attention has been a little divided in the past six hours."

"You didn't tell me I died," Keiichi accused. "Why."

"Belldandy was more important at the time," Urd replied. "She was missing and we needed to get her back."

"Oh, so her taking a little hike through the woods is more important than letting me know she fucking killed me?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Keiichi demanded. "For that matter, how the fuck did you bring me back? 'Cause I sure as shit don't remember any of this!"

"Most people don't remember traumatic experiences, Keiichi."

"Well no fucking shit." The SEAL glared at her. "Should I be worried? Belldandy said she killed me, that she felt my fucking life force vanish. I don't even know what the fuck that is! Am I going to suffer from any side effects from this shit or what? Am I gonna start having a hankering for brains or human flesh? Or am I gonna be like some Voodoo zombie fresh out a Haiti that does whatever you say?"

Urd gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. The woman sucked in a deep breath. Her left hand curled into a tight fist, trembled, and then opened into a rigid claw. She clenched it by the wrist as if it were an animal trying to go wild. "You're fine Keiichi. I spent... Yggdrasil knows how long taking care of you and ensuring everything in your body was going to function correctly." Her voice was drawn and tight. "I double-checked, triple-checked, hell, even quadruple-checked your body for any signs of organ failure when I resuscitated you. And you weren't dead-not in the true sense of the word." She opened her eyes and focused on him. "Your spirit still lingered in the body, though your heart had stopped. That was a sign that you weren't ready to die, because otherwise it would have vanished before I could bring you back. You were fighting to stay, and I only helped cement the bonds that tied your soul to your body and closed off any avenues it could escape from."

"Yeah, okay, fine," Keiichi grumbled. "So it was a near-death experience then? One of those 'don't go to the light' moments or whatever?"

"If that's how you want to look at it." Urd sighed. "I personally don't care. Whatever interpretation helps you get to sleep at night, Keiichi."

Keiichi scowled at her. "But there was a light," he said lowly. "I remember seeing it, and Skuld backed me up. I saw a fucking light. The Poodle said it was... I don't know, something about 'Belldandy's last attempt to stop herself or some shit like that."

"Holy Bell..." Urd muttered.

"What?"

Urd shook her head, and Keiichi pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on. "Wait, no," he said. "No more secrets. What the fuck was it, Urd? You said 'Holy Bell'. What the fuck is 'Holy Bell'?"

Urd stared at him, sullen and quiet.

"Urd..." Keiichi growled. "You said you'd explain everything to me. And after fucking dying I think I'm owed some answers!" His voice rose in a shout, and it was enough for Urd to lose the slipping hold of her temper.

"Don't you fucking dare speak to me of what is owed to you!" the woman hissed, and all at once she was in front of him, impossibly tall with eyes that blazed the molten red of liquid metal. "I tell you what I know because I choose to, not because I am obligated to. Not to you. Not to a mortal. Not to a mere man who forgets himself and believes he can ask the world of a deity just because she resides in his house!"

Keiichi stumbled back, eyes wide, and the look on his face was enough for her to regain control of her temper once more. She jerked away from him. The illusion was broken, leaving five foot eleven Urd with violet eyes in its place once more. She squeezed her eyes shut and returned to the bed, collapsing on top of it with a moan.

"I just want to understand what's going on." Keiichi's voice came out a whisper. "Because I don't, and in all honesty Urd, after hearing I fucking died from my own murderer's lips, I'm pretty fucking freaked out right now." The man didn't move from his spot against the wall, and now his gaze was filled with wariness. His eyes darted to the door and back to Urd, as though contemplating the wisdom of running. Urd didn't notice.

"You never struck me as the type of person to fear death," Urd grumbled, her head bowed as she rubbed her temples.

"I'm not." Keiichi's voice didn't rise. "I accepted the fact I might die in combat a long time ago." He fell silent once more. When he spoke again, there was an audible tremor in his voice. "But there's a difference between dying in the heat of battle and being murdered in your own house by someone you care about. And when I learn that the woman I love... when I find out I was killed by the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, that I can't fall asleep without looking over my shoulder now, that I—that I-I was killed because I remind her of the man she hates the most-"

The SEAL fell quiet, and Urd raised her head to look at the mortal. The man stared at her with a look of heart-wrenching anguish. Urd felt a knot form in her throat when she saw the despair in his eyes. "What do I do? I don't- what am I supposed to do, Urd?" His legs gave out beneath him, and Keiichi slid down the wall and onto the floor, clutching his head as though it pained him. "I can't- how can we move on with our relationship now? She just- I don't even know if I can forgive her for this, Urd! I mean, I know that she had a flashback and that she didn't see me, and a piece of me even understands that fact, but- I can't get close to her. I'll never know if what I do might trigger something, might leave her choking me out again or leave my head as a splattered mess on the wall. How can I trust her to be around me when my hackles are gonna rise like a dog sensing a threat now?"

Urd bit her lip, for the first time seeing how hurt and scared the man looked. A lump of guilt settled in her chest, and sighing more to herself than Keiichi, the goddess pushed herself off her bed and moved to the SEAL. She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor beside the man. For a long moment they sat next to each other in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. There was a gentle sound of movement in the room next door from the angels, and downstairs Skuld's voice rose as a gentle, questioning murmur. Peorth's voice rose in response, then Nebo's, and then silence once more.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," Keiichi grumbled. "I- it's just too much all at once. I wasn't trying to be an asshole."

"We've both had our moments," Urd replied. She rubbed at her eyes. They felt irritated and heavy with exhaustion. "I'm sorry, too." The pair lapsed into silence for another five minutes before Urd spoke again. "The light you saw... that was Holy Bell. Belldandy's angel."

Keiichi grunted.

"Holy Bell was the one that stopped Belldandy from ripping your head off," Urd continued. "That's what Skuld meant. If... Holy Bell hadn't manifested when she did..."

"I really would be dead." Keiichi whispered.

Urd nodded.

The silence returned.

"We're... linked," Urd started anew. "Our angels and us. They're..."

"Like a guardian angel?" Keiichi rolled his head to look at her.

Urd shook her head. "No... not like that. It's... complicated." She sighed, frustrated. "An angel is... how do I explain this in words you'd understand...?" She pursed her lips. "They're a separate creature born from the soul of a deity," she began. "They're... they're a reflection of the deity's soul, I guess you could say, and they reside in our soul to be summoned when we're in need of aid." The woman's fingers drummed a rhythm on her knee, and in her mind's eye she saw World of Elegance in the room with them, her physical form absent but still visible to Urd's senses as she investigated the wall between herself and Holy Bell. In the Norn's eye the angel looked as distressed as Urd felt, and it did little to lighten her mood. "We're always connected to them. Even when they're outside of us, we're connected to them."

"I don't get what you're saying."

"I know." Urd sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them once more, World of Elegance was gone. "I told you, it's difficult to explain." She scowled, searching for the proper words. "Holy Bell isn't in Belldandy right now," she admitted. "She's in the other room with Skuld's angel." The woman's silver brows furrowed together, wondering if she was speaking too much before continuing on regardless. "When you showed up, after Belldandy vanished... Keiichi, our angels can't be away from us for an extended period of time. And when the link between us becomes strained... if it should snap..."

"What happens?"

Yet Urd shook her head, all at once cold. She could not speak more on the subject. Not to Keiichi, who was a man, a mortal created of the mad union of a demon flesh and divine spirit. She didn't dare. The Norn grew all too aware of the man's gaze, watching her keenly, and Urd sighed, trying to change the subject. "I think that if Holy Bell has a chance to recover, Belldandy's healing will speed up," she said. "It was Holy Bell that saved you, regardless of what anyone else says. Skuld and I- we helped, but it was Belldandy's angel-" She stopped herself from saying, 'Belldandy's soul', "-that stayed her hand."

"So... that kid I saw..."

"An angel, yes."

"She had red eyes." The SEAL muttered. "God damn it." The man rubbed his face with both hands, moaning into his palms. "How long has this been going on? These... angels? Have they always been popping up in the house and making themselves at home when I'm gone?"

"No," Urd said. "No, this is a new occurrence. This... this was the first time I've seen Holy Bell in over ten years."

"So you have an angel too?" He glanced at her.

"Yes." Urd ignored his gaze.

"Can I see it?"

"No," Urd said firmly. Now she looked at him, her frown pensive and guarded. "And I'd advise against asking the others to see their angels as well. A deity's angel is very personal to the god in question because their appearance is a direct reflection of that person's being. The only people in my immediate family who know what my angel looks like are Skuld and Belldandy, to give you an idea, and now the three gods downstairs after the chaos brought by the morning." She shook her head. "My own parents don't know what World of Elegance looks like, and despite everything we've gone through Keiichi, I'm not certain I'm at that same level with you as I am with my sisters."

"I saved your life once," he pointed out, his tone just light enough to be joking.

"And you threatened to shoot me an hour later," Urd retorted.

Keiichi flinched. "So I guess that's also a 'no' on seeing the... fuck this is weird- the angels next door, too?"

"You'll get hurt if you try," Urd warned. "You're liable to turn the whole house against you trying to see Holy Bell without Belldandy's express permission. Even I haven't seen her in her current state, and though World of Elegance has been helping her, I respect her privacy enough not to dig into her memories to see Holy Bell's current state of being." The Norn's frown deepened. "If Belldandy wants me to see Holy Bell, then she'll tell me. But I don't think even Belldandy has seen the state of her angel since Holy Bell manifested, and until she has a chance to, I'm not gonna snoop."

The man beside her deflated. "You're not curious?" he asked. "Not at all?"

"No." She scowled, then said, "Would you be curious about what Sanchez's intestines looked like after he stepped on an IED?"

Keiichi recoiled. "Fuck no!" he exclaimed. "The fuck is wrong with you? I don't even want to imagine that!"

"Case in point." Urd sighed. "But that's why Nebo is here. You can thank Lind for that. She called him and he came to help Holy Bell." She let her head thunk against the wall. "He finds out what's wrong with Holy Bell, he figures out how to help her recover. If Holy Bell recovers, Belldandy can recover too, which could mean an end to any further flashbacks."

"You mean that prick is here to stay?" Keiichi growled. "Urd, I don't want that guy in my house."

"If he's a prick, are you a cunt?" Urd grumbled, ignoring the insulted look Keiichi sent her. "He's only here for the angels, Keiichi."

"Nobody asked me if he could stay," Keiichi muttered. To Urd it almost sounded like he was pouting. "I'm being walked over in my own house."

"Don't make this situation into a dick measuring contest, Jank," Urd growled. "This is for Belldandy, and to some extent, even you." She took a deep breath, releasing it in a soothing sigh that did not ease her discomfort in the slightest. "You gave Belldandy your wish. Belldandy wished to be with you forever. Like it or not, Keiichi, the two of you are stuck together."

"Not if I just wish it away," the man grumbled.

Urd looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Is that what you want?" she asked him. "After all you've gone through, is that really what you want, Keiichi Morisato? To terminate the wish you gave, of your own free will, to a goddess who suffered at the hands of a mortal? To deny her the peace of mind your presence brings her, to deny her an end to her nightmares? Her demons?"

Keiichi scowled at her. "Are you trying to fucking guilt trip me now?!" he demanded.

"No," Urd said. "I'm asking you an honest question: Is an end to the wish that binds you to Belldandy what you really want?" She searched his face.

The man squirmed under her gaze. "No," he confessed. "No, that's not what I want."

"Then what do you want, Keiichi?"

The man frowned and tilted his head back, sending a forlorn gaze to the ceiling. "I don't know," he admitted. "I... Fuck, Urd- I want Belldandy to get better! I want to see her happy, see her smiling and laughing. I don't want to see her screaming because of nightmares, or losing herself in a flashback, or crying in front of me like she's afraid I'll beat her!" The man visibly swallowed, his eyes bright. "I don't want to be mistaken for a man who should be rotting in a gutter! I- god damn it, Urd, I want to hold her in my arms, I want to wake up every morning to her smile, I want to have stupid arguments on where the sugar goes and tease each other over stupid things like salads with potatoes and expired cream corn! I want to love her so bad!" he cried, and with a hearbreaking moan the SEAL buried his face in his hands.

"But she makes it so god damned hard, Urd! How can I love someone who's afraid to love me back? When she's got magic that can make a man insane or breaks my sister's nose without realizing it? When she freaks out and threatens to kill her annoying friend and goes batshit crazy when another person kisses me? When she fucking kills me because a single touch- she admitted it herself, Urd, a single touch-is enough to send her over the edge? When am I supposed to cut my losses and move on?"

"I don't know." Urd wrapped an arm around the man's shoulders and pulled him into a gentle embrace. Keiichi didn't resist. "I really don't, Keiichi." She rested her chin atop the man's head and felt Keiichi suck in a deep, painful breath. "We can only be patient and keep trying." For reasons she didn't understand, Keiichi's words struck a chord in her, and they echoed in her mind, reflected in her own voice, When am I supposed to cut my losses and move on? She squeezed her eyes shut, ignoring the lingering voice. "Holy Bell's problem is new. So we try something new and hope it works out."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then we try something else," Urd replied.

Keiichi sighed, and Urd felt an arm snake around her waist as Keiichi shifted to return her embrace, perhaps seeking strength in her person. They stayed like that, on the floor and in a hug that spoke more of desperation than affection, for an untold amount of time before Keiichi finally pulled himself away. Urd let him go.

"This shit sucks Urd."

"I know." She fell silent, then said, "I'll speak with Nebo if you want. Try and keep him away from you and help keep the peace in the house."

The man grimaced. "No, you don't need to do that," he grumbled. "I'll speak with him myself. Try and work something out. It's just…" He sighed. "Everything feels so fucking... out of control." He pursed his lips. "And it's all so crowded all of a sudden. Lind's here, these angels you're talking about, and now Nebo and- let's not forget- Peorth is still here."

"Don't worry about Peorth," Urd said firmly. "Right now she should be the last thing on your mind. What are you going to do about Belldandy?"

"I don't know." Keiichi said. "I need to think about it." He sighed and rose to his feet, then offered a hand to Urd. The Norn took it, and she allowed the SEAL to haul her to her feet. "I... think I need to be alone for a bit," he decided. "Think things over. Figure out what I want to do from here." He scrunched his eyebrows together and massaged his brow.

Urd clapped a hand down on the man's right shoulder. "Take your time," she said. "I'll make sure no one bothers you. You heading to your room?"

"Yeah," he said. "Seems to be the only place right now I can hope for some privacy." He brought his left hand up to cover the hand on his shoulder, cupping it and squeezing it gently. "Thanks Urd," he mumbled. "For bringing me back. I'm grateful." He stared into her eyes, his gaze honest and naked to her, and what she saw in his vision terrified her even as it made her heart quicken. "You've always been there for me. You're a good friend."

With a final squeeze, he released her, and Urd's hand slid off his shoulder, falling back to her side where it dangled limply. "Sorry for being such an asshole earlier. I'm... doing a little better now." His lips curved up in a small half-smile, and with that the man departed, leaving Urd where she was, eyes lingering on his form as he exited the bedroom and vanished into the hallway. Her hand tingled from where Keiichi had touched it, and her heart ached with a sudden and horrible yearning. "Nidhogg... bless it," she whispered, and Keiichi's words from earlier returned to her like a ricochet, twisted and formed into something else, How can you love someone who doesn't love you back? her subconscious screamed. When are you going to cut your losses and move on?! She wondered if it was indeed her inner voice or World of Elegance questioning her, wishing for the latter yet knowing it was the former.

"I don't know," she whispered. She rubbed her hand, hating the way it still tingled. "I don't fucking know. But I can't keep doing this. I can't."

XXX

Belldandy was quiet and withdrawn as she, Skuld, and Peorth entered the house once more. It had taken the combined efforts of both her younger sister and her friend to convince her to come inside, and it was not until Skuld reminded her of Holy Bell that the Norn mustered the courage to step back into the house. Keiichi was nowhere in sight, and she was glad for that small blessing. The woman could not stand the thought of the SEAL's accusing eyes, and that knowledge weighed heavily in her chest. Lind, observing the staircase, hinted at where the man had vanished to, along with Urd who was also gone.

Belldandy, her angel still absent from within her breast, was uncertain if she should be relieved or concerned. She trusted Urd, yes, but there'd been times she'd heard Keiichi's voice rise upstairs, the words muffled but the anger evident, and knowing he was so close to Holy Bell put her on edge.

"Noble Scarlet's with her right now," Skuld reassured her as they moved into the living room. There was a man, a god there that Belldandy didn't recognize, and he smiled warmly at her. "Don't worry, she'll let us know if anything happens up there." The smile she sent the Norn was reassuring, and Belldandy took strength in it. "Besides, you should have seen World of Elegance. She wasn't taking lip from anyone regarding the others, even Lind. I bet you ten to one if Keiichi tries to peek on them, she'll pop up and scare the crap out of him."

The unfamiliar god in the living room winced. "I hope not," he mumbled. "It'd be kinder if Urd merely ripped off his head."

Peorth flinched. "Please don't talk like that," she said. "I know you and Monsieur Keiichi met under less than desirable circumstances, but that is no reason to make such a cold comment."

The man stared at Peorth blankly. "You mean our conversation earlier?"

From the hallway Lind snorted. "If you want to call it that, Nebo."

The man, Nebo, shrugged. "My concern is for the angels, not the lum. I worry should World of Elegance feel the need to reveal herself. Urd is too self-conscious of her angel's Black Wing mutation to let her simply manifest in front of an awilum, even one surrounded by the divine such as him." He leaned back on the Ugly Beast. "But don't worry, from what World of Elegance told me, her link with Urd is strong. If there's anything that puts her angel on edge or if your lum gets too close to Holy Bell and Noble Scarlet, Urd will act and keep him back.

Belldandy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness," she mumbled. Urd wasn't the only one self-conscious about her angel. Though she was unwilling to voice her fears, knowing that Holy Bell had managed to manifest for the first time in ten years frightened her. She'd not even heard her angel in close to five years, and the silence of her Other Soul had terrified her. That fear, like many things, had been shoved aside in those long years with Aoshima, but to find that her angel had manifested now, with mere months to distance her time from Toshiyuki, caused her to dread the approaching reunion with her angel. She feared what Holy Bell's appearance would say of her own soul, tarnished as it was.

The god before her must have seen something on her face. He rose from his position on the pink couch and approached her, inclining his head in greetings. "I'm Nebo, a friend of Lind's," he said. "I'm a Tic that specializes in angels, and word reached me that you might need some help." In a lower voice he said, "I spoke with Holy Bell already. She's safe and stable upstairs. You've got a darling angel, Belldandy. Her first request when I met her was to let you know she doesn't blame you."

Belldandy jerked back, staring at the god with wide eyes. The warmth in his smile didn't fade. "Come, let's sit. I'd say 'let's go upstairs', but the awilum is throwing a fit up there and that ain't what any of us need to be around right now, you least of all." He waved her towards the furniture, and when she declined the recliner the two of them both sat on the couch. Skuld took a seat on the la-z-boy as Peorth stepped back into the hallway with Lind, preferring to give them some privacy.

"She also wanted to apologize to you, sweet child that she is," said Nebo. "The link between you two is so weak she can't make her voice heard or her feelings sensed, and since it can go both ways, the sweetling was afraid you'd think she'd stopped communicating with you intentionally."

"I..." Belldandy stared at him, at a loss of what to say. "You speak to angels?"

"I sign." Nebo created a series of gestures with his hands. "I had a full conversation with her. You've got a good angel in your breast, Kyz. I've seen other angels who were angered at their hosts for much less, but your girl? Your Holy Bell?" He shook his head. "First thing she signed" his hands gestured wildly in the air, mimicking the angel's motions from earlier, "was 'Don't be angry with Belldandy. It's not her fault. I don't blame her.'" He paused and thought for a moment. "Actually, that might have been addressed more towards World of Elegance than me." The man shrugged. "Regardless, you've got a very forgiving Ssaratu on your shoulders, Kyz."

"Angel, Nebo," Lind called from the hallway.

"Stop eavesdropping, Kyz!" Nebo called back. "I'll tell your girls to beat you!"

"Stop talking so loud then and go speak in private!" Lind retorted.

"No more fights!" Skuld moaned. Nebo grinned and winked at Belldandy.

Belldandy stared, then shook her head as though trying to rouse herself from her daze. "Then Holy Bell... she is well?"

Some of the humor faded from Nebo's eyes. "She is stable. I would not say that she is well, though. Not yet. She is weak, Belldandy. Very weak. The mere fact she was able to manifest in such a state is amazing. If not for the love you have for the lum, I doubt Holy Bell would have been able to manifest at all: it was your care for him and the fear for his safety that provided her with the strength to manifest."

Belldandy stared at the Tic, stricken with despair. "But I—"

The man waved her down. "What you may or may not have done in the moment of a flashback does not matter." His voice lowered. "Your soul cried out for aid, and as a creature born to reflect that piece of you, your angel, responded in the only way she knew how: to manifest in the hopes of stopping you from making a mistake you would come to regret."

"She's weak though," Belldandy whispered. "I can't even hear her voice! I was unaware she'd even manifested until Peorth brought it to my attention!" She groaned, bowing her head and tangling her fingers within her long hair. "I still killed him though. In the end Holy Bell was unable to stop me, and now, now she's manifested and, and what's her state? How weak is she that even with a physical form, she was unable to touch my mind or stay my hand?"

Nebo stared at her in silence, his eyes darting from Belldandy to the women who hovered at the threshold of the living room, trying hard to look like they weren't eavesdropping. Skuld in particular looked the most concerned, and she fidgeted restlessly in the hallway, one foot tapping up a storm as she tried to keep the rest of her body still.

"It would be better to show you," the man said softly. "That way we can ensure privacy when we speak."

The goddess froze, her eyes darting to look up at the man next to her. She felt cold. Cold and terrified all at once. I'm afraid. She realized. I don't want to see her. Oh Yggdrasil, I don't want to see my own angel! It was a horrible thought, one that shocked her as much as it revolted her. Ten years. Ten years of suffering at the hands of a mortal man... what would that do to her? What decrepit state have I left her in that it required me putting the life of the man I love at risk to manifest? Belldandy broke out into a cold sweat. How could she want to see me?! How can I face her? Yggdrasil be blessed, it'd taken all her strength to face Keiichi after what she'd done to him, and now she was to face Holy Bell as well?

"I can't," she whispered, and shook her head. Nebo's face fell. "I- no. I..." She bit her lip and looked away, ashamed. "I..."

"Would it help if we spoke while someone you were comfortable with was in attendance as well?" Nebo offered. "One of your sisters, perhaps?"

"Urd," Belldandy said. The name spilled from her lips without thought. The Norn paused, startled at her own request. "Yes. Urd. Skuld too," she said with more certainty. "I- I want my sisters with me. Both of them."

"Okay." Nebo nodded. "That's fine. So long as you're comfortable with them hearing the final diagnosis, that's fine."

"I- I am," Belldandy stammered. "Urd... she knows what it's like." The Norn bit her lip. "And she and Skuld have always been there for me. I want my sisters with me."

"Got it." Nebo rose from the Ugly Beast. "We'll stay down here a bit and then I'll go check upstairs and see if Urd is willing to join us."

"Yes..." Belldandy nodded as well. "Yes, that is fine. Thank you."

Skuld moved to take Nebo's place as the god rose, and before the man moved from the living room he touched Belldandy's shoulder. "Don't be afraid," he said. "Either of you." He looked between both Belldandy and Skuld. "Your angels are in a very delicate situation right now. They'll be looking to their hosts for reassurance." His eyes came to rest on Skuld. "Especially you, Kyz."

Skuld nodded wordlessly, and Nebo left to converse with Lind and Peorth in the hallway. Belldandy pulled her younger sister into a hug. "I've never seen your angel before," she mumbled.

"I only summoned her this morning," Skuld confessed. "She's... new." The younger woman returned the embrace, and for a moment they sat like that, alone on the couch, the others providing them a moment's grace of privacy as they conversed in the hallway. "Holy Bell needed help. So I called for Noble Scarlet. I... part of me wasn't expecting her to answer."

"Thank you, Skuld," Belldandy murmured. "To call your angel in such a moment… and with me-" She bit her lip. "I appreciate it. I really do, Skuld. I know it must have been difficult for you."

"It's nothing," Skuld replied, waving her off. "I'm just glad I was able to help, is all."

The middle Norn smiled, though it was slim. She shook her head. "There are times I still find it difficult to believe you are the same little girl I left ten years ago," she said. "With how you've grown..."

"Please stop."

Belldandy paused, staring at her sister in confusion.

Skuld looked at her with a pensive frown. "I don't want to talk about me," she said. There was iron in her voice. "What will you do about Keiichi?" She asked. "Now that..."

The middle Norn grimaced. "I don't know," she confessed. "I cannot ask for his forgiveness. Not after," She bit her lip, then spat the words out like a wad of phlegm, "after I killed him." She sighed and pushed herself into the Ugly Beast's cushions, as though hoping she would sink inside and vanish from existence. "I made a wish though. And now Keiichi has a second wish dedicated solely for him." She closed her eyes. "I don't know what he intends to do with it... however I'll support his decision regardless."

"You think he'll wish to cancel out yours?" Skuld asked.

Belldandy nodded. "I'd be more surprised if he didn't." She opened her eyes and looked at her younger sister with sad eyes. "Perhaps it is for the better this way... I could return home and be better treated by a Tic, and I could ensure Holy Bell's better stability."

"Is that what you want, Bell?"

The goddess scoffed. "Of course not," she muttered. "I wish to stay here with the man I love... however I wish more for his happiness. I have always wished for his happiness, ever since he obtained my attention so many years ago." The woman lapsed into silence, staring dourly at the coffee table in front of her. Her coffee table, like the Ugly Beast was her couch, if she still allowed herself to believe Keiichi's words when he'd first purchased the items. A couch. A coffee table. A bed. Her possessions, not his. Was she to return to Asgard with these... souvenirs? Ha, what a silly thought. The furniture was made of fragile Midgard materials. They would not last a day in Asgard. It would be kinder to leave them here with Keiichi. Memories of what could have been. She thought.

Her lips peeled back in a wan smile. "It will hurt, undeniably. However... perhaps I was misled in my initial perception of him. Perhaps we are not meant for each other as I once dreamed. Maybe once upon a time... in another time, in another place, we could have been perfect for each other. But now?" She shook her head. "Even after we spoke last night... even after we bled our hearts and picked at scars made fresh once more... perhaps it is not enough. Perhaps I am a little too damaged for him, he a little too delicate for me, and perhaps in the end we would destroy each other if we were to remain together."

Her heart sat heavy in her chest, and she felt her eyes begin to burn even as Skuld drew her once more into a tight embrace. "I don't want to lose him," she whispered. "I don't want him to suffer, but by Yggdrasil's roots, I don't want to lose him, either." The tears began to fall, and they felt hot against her face. Her lower lip trembled. She gritted her teeth and swallowed a sob. "So... I will allow him to decide. Once more, as before. And I will support whatever he decides, because I already know what my decision would be if it were left to me, and by the black waters of Tehome, it would be the wrong decision, Skuld. It would be the wrong one, and we'd destroy each other."

The woman began to weep, and her sister held her, offering what meager comfort she could in a world made of men and separate of gods.


A/N: This is not a good decision for either of them. More people will need to weigh in on this, I think.


Comments of a Madwoman: "There were things you wanted to tell me and there were things I was dying to say. But you were scared and my voice faltered, so we both sewed our lips shut and buried it away..." -E.G.