l
-35-
The atmosphere as evening began to approach had lightened somewhat as the sun began to set outside. Keiichi, from what Aiko could tell, either never had the chance to speak with Belldandy or was still working up the nerve to speak with her. Regardless, the general sense of doom and gloom was no longer as prevalent as it once was. Urd and Skuld awoke sometime around four. The youngest of the Norns scowled at Keiichi for a moment, then marched upstairs, presumably to talk to Belldandy. Urd watched her go, then shrugged and ambled off to who knows where. Probably in search of Lind, if Aiko was to judge (and boy did she ever). Between that time and dinner, the college student took the opportunity to harass Nebo more about angels.
"So, like, where do angels come from?" She asked. "And how do you guys get them? For example, could say... someone like me get an angel? Or is this purely a 'god-thing'?"
Nebo, to her surprise, was more than willing to discuss the subject with her. It was peculiar, given how none of the deities in the house actually wanted to introduce her to the entities in question, and as a deity himself, and one who didn't know Aiko, the woman would have thought the man reluctant to speak on the subject. Instead, upon making herself comfortable at the dining table and bringing up the subject, what she got was a large, toothy smile that was almost fanatical. It almost would have been cute with the way his face lit up, if not for that crazy mustache of his and the whole 'older than dirt' thing going on for him as a god.
"So you want to know more about angels?" Nebo asked. "I likin' you more and more every minute, Kyz," he said, and that strange accent was a little thicker now, a little more pronounced, slurring his words into some strange off-shoot of English that took her brain a moment to process. The man tipped his chair, pushing back onto the rear legs as he propped himself up. His face grew thoughtful, almost scholarly, if she had to place a term for it; she'd seen college professors wear a similar look.
"So, angels come from the Dirssaratunna, who ya might call the 'First Mother', if I got my words right. She brings in a batch a' eggs for folks, and each batch is a new generation a' angels," he said, chewing on his words carefully. Aiko leaned forward in interest, and Nebo continued, not at all bothered by the woman's intense gaze. "We take 'em and hold on to 'em. They ain't big-less than a quail's egg, you could swallow 'em whole they so tiny. And other folks, other gods, come to us when they ready for an angel a' their own."
The man scratched at his chin, rocking on the back legs of his chair in a slow and methodical rhythm. "Most folks see it as a rite a' passage. Ya' see older gods get 'em for their kids, and other times they grown men and women who just got citizenship into Asgard." He paused in his tale to look over at Aiko. "Angels are special. You only find 'em in Asgard and with Asgardian gods. They ain't found nowhere else, and if a god decides he ain't a local no more, he's gotta return his angel to the Dirssaratunna. She a gudan who mad-crazy 'bout protecting her clutches, an' her nest is all a' Asgard. She trusts us to take care of her babies, but if one goes missing, then hooo-boy, you don't want to be the one she hunts down."
"Wow." Aiko said. "So... all the angels are like... siblings, then? From the same mom?" She frowned. "And they're only found in... Asgard? Like, 'Norse' Asgard? Not... 'Biblical-Heaven'?"
Nebo shrugged. "Dunno what this 'Norse' or 'Biblical' stuff a' yours is. Asgard what we call home. Territory that encompasses almost all the gods in the nine-realms, aside from those territories that haven't joined under its branch yet." He shrugged. "Still quite a few out there. I hear Shiva, Vishnu, and Bhrama all too stubborn to give in and bow to the Daitenkaicho, and Zeus and his family still like to hang on Mount Olympus, from what I know." He shrugged. "And that ain't countin' the who knows how many spirits hanging out in the other worlds- even down here in Midgard, though most of 'em are spirits elevated to a position a' godhood after being grandfathered in from so many years of existence." He shook his head. "Gotta watch out for those ones. They wild because they usually animals who got a different title depending on the territory. What's seen as good in one place can be seen as evil in another, and it makes 'em mad at the best a times. I hear Chugach is like that. Then a' course you got Helheim an' all it's territories, or even those ex-patriots who gone down to Niflheim." He smiled, then resumed his rocking. "But yeah, the angels all siblings, you could say that. They don't often see it though 'cause of the traits they pick up from their hosts."
Aiko stared at him blankly, most of his words having gone right over her head. "Okay," she said. This was starting to make her head hurt. Admittedly, she'd never had much interest in established religions until about a month ago, and while hearing some of the more recognizable names coming from the god, Aiko still understood maybe only one in every five words the man was saying. Deciding to skip out on the more complicated and longer explanation of divine territories that would probably give the theologians back home a hernia, Aiko moved back to the topic of angels. That seemed... safer... for the moment. "Umm... what do you mean angels pick up traits from their hosts?" she asked.
Nebo sent her that large, fanatical smile again, and Aiko for some reason was reminded of an old movie series chain dating back from the late seventies and into the early eighties. She didn't know why that specific cheesy, scifi movie came to her head, but admittedly his smile kinda sorta maybe reminded her a teensie-weensie tiney-wieny bit of one of the villains in the series. The 'human' ones, anyhow. "Just that," the god said. "Angels are a blank slate when they in their egg. They a' magical race, so they ain't got no established genetic code outside a' the Dirssartunna. They like... they only got half a' what they need. It's up to us to supply them the other half."
That suspicion in her mind that this was somehow the plot to a horrific sci-fi movie series began to grow. "So... " Aiko drawled. "How do they, um... how do they get this- this other half of genetic... code?"
The smile on Nebo's face grew. "We ingest the angel egg, a' course!" he crowed, puffing out his chest like a preening bird. "From there, the egg starts absorbing traits from the host and after a certain point starts undergoing mitosis. Once it stops, the angel is born, then 'pop!' Out they come to say 'hello'."
Aiko stared at the man in a strange mixture of horror, fascination, and victory. "I knew it... " She whispered, then raised her voice in a shout. "Kei? Kei! Get in here!"
Her brother came racing into the kitchen at her call, his eyes wide with alarm. "What is it?" he demanded. "What's wrong?!" He looked between Aiko and Nebo with wide eyes, which narrowed as they fell onto the god. "If you did anything to her, I swear I'll fucking-"
"Wow!" Aiko yelped. "Jeez, Kei, calm down! Nothing happened, we were just talking about angels!"
Keiichi's glare never left Nebo's. "Don't fuck with my sister, Nebo." He paused, then re-iterated his words. "Don't fuck my sister, Nebo."
"What in Ereshkigal's name did I do?!" Nebo demanded. "I was just having a friendly conversation! I ain't done nothing!"
"Kei, stop being an overprotective brother and listen to me," Aiko announced. Keiichi, the epitome overprotective brother, sent another scowl towards Nebo before directing his attention to Aiko. "Kei, I learned something very, very important about the angels."
Keiichi, perhaps a tad bit upset at what may have been an instant of 'girl who cried god', said nothing.
A long, slow smile spread across Aiko's face. "Kei, the angels are Aliens."
"They're what?" Keiichi asked.
"They're what?" Nebo demanded at the same time.
The two men shot a look at each other. Aiko, growing excited now, didn't seem to notice. She was off in her own little world, imagining angels bursting from the chests of deities in a hail of bone chips and bloody gore. "They're xenomorphs, Kei! Motherfucking Aliens! They're eggs that are digested by a host, absorb the genetic material of that host, and then burst out upon release! Oh my god they're chestbursters!"
Now both of the men were staring at Aiko in shock. "What?!" they demanded, one in confusion, the other in disbelief.
Aiko laughed. "Can you imagine, Kei? A bunch of fucking divine xenomorphs with little white wings coming out of their backs? And halos?" She began to laugh harder. "This is so... stupid! I can't believe this shit!" Her eyes widened. "Wait wait wait, hold on a sec." She dug into her pocket for her phone. Upon withdrawing and unlocking it, she searched for a specific picture and then passed it off to Nebo to see. "Have you ever seen this man before? Oh please tell me you've seen him before. Please tell me Ridley Scott is a god making horror movies based off angels."
Nebo precariously took the phone, holding it at arm's length as though terrified it held a secondary set of jaws that would reach out and tear his throat out. "Uh..." He tilted the phone to one side, then the other, trying to change the angle of the picture he was staring at. The phone, with its screen-tilt, re-oriented the image back to its original position with each turn. "Ah... I dunno, maybe?" he said. "I don't think so though, Kyz. There's a lot a folks at home, and I don't see much of em'."
"Damn," Aiko swore, then brightened. "Wait, I know!" she cried, and as Nebo passed the phone back to her, she did another search, found another man, and pulled up another image. "What about this guy?"
H.G. Geiger glared up at Nebo from a black-and-white image. He was holding the head of the very creature that had so terrorized a Sigourney Weaver throughout the Alien franchise.
Nebo seemed unamused. "That," the god said. "Looks frighteningly similar to a demon I once fought in the forgotten years."
Keiichi flinched. "A demon?" he said, "Are you serious?"
"Yep." The god pursed his lips in a strained grin, his expression that of a man who'd just pulled up memories he'd been trying to forget for ages. He said no more on the topic.
Aiko of course, being the person she was, barely noticed this strange shift in behavior. She was too ecstatic. "I fucking knew it!" She cried. "Giger didn't fucking fall off a ladder and die. He went back home!"
In a disturbing sequence of events, both men groaned at the absurd claim and brought a palm to their face. This time, neither recognized their mirrored actions, as both appeared too embarrassed by the absurd claims emitting from the young woman before them.
Aiko, placed in an immediately better mood, beamed throughout the rest of the afternoon and into dinner.
XXX
Skuld made her way downstairs, a scowl on her face from her conversation with Belldandy. Her sister had been less than reasonable with the younger woman despite Skuld's best efforts, the topic of debate rising from a disagreement into the hint of an argument the likes of which she normally reserved for Urd. It'd been the angels who'd stopped them from breaking into a shouting match. Holy Bell, Noble Scarlet, and Peorth's Gorgeous Rose had all but pried the two of them apart in their own anxieties, and though neither Norn could understand Peorth's angel, her message was clear: any fights would send them both out of the room, where as far as the angels were concerned, the two hosts could face World of Elegance's wrath. The two sisters had been quick to stop with the threat of being kicked out, but it'd left the siblings sore with each other, and so Skuld had left. For the sake of the angels.
So she told herself.
Now though, with Belldandy still upstairs and Skuld heading downstairs, she gritted her teeth, growled, and swore with such vehement creativity that Urd would have been proud of her. The walk had cooled her head. The nap had made her less irritable. Yet a simple talk with Belldandy had brought up all the rising frustration of the past twenty-four hours like an open scab, and though she didn't want to admit it, the argument with Belldandy had wounded her. She wasn't supposed to get into a fight with Belldandy. Urd, yes. All day every day, because Urd's words only got on her nerves. They never actually hurt. But the exchange with Belldandy...
Bell was supposed to be who she went to for comfort. She was the peacekeeper.
She wasn't supposed to get into arguments with her baby sister.
Sighing to herself, she continued down the stairs, hearing the first signs of yet another argument starting to rise in the dining room.
"What'd I do now, lum?" Nebo's voice met the Norn's ears. "I'm just saying- why you making a deal over me not eating meat?!"
"I'm not wasting groceries on two separate meals." Keiichi's voice growled back. "Can't you just pick out what you don't want?"
"No!" Nebo cried. "That- no lum! That's cross-contamination!"
"For the love of-" That was Aiko. "Kei, stop being an ass, okay?"
"Why are you taking his side?" Keiichi demanded, then grew suspicious. "Did that motherfucker do something to you?"
"What'd you just call me?!" demanded Nebo.
Skuld paused as she passed the threshold to the living room, seeing Lind sprawled out on the recliner, looking for all the world like she was asleep. "How the hell can she sleep through this shit?" she mumbled.
"I'm not," Lind replied, and one eye peeked open to look at her. "I'm keeping my sanity by not getting involved." A hand moved to an ear, and the woman withdrew the white earbud that was obscured by her hair. "Urd lent me music," the Valkyrie explained. "She seems to think I have similar tastes to Jackson."
"Do you?" Skuld asked, honestly curious at the strange comparison. What kind of music did a man like Jackson even listen to? Lind for that matter? "What's playing now?"
Lind shrugged and looked at the phone- Urd's phone, Skuld noted. "Are Jay Dee Two," she said. "It's different. I've never heard this type of music before."
"But do you like it?" Skuld repeated.
From the earbuds, a deep and melancholy voice sang out, "Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Maybe sunshine or maybe the rain. But as for me, I'll wait and see. And maybe it'll bring my love to me, oh... "
Lind shrugged. "It's growing on me," she said. "Before this was a band called 'Gorillas' but with a 'Z'."
"Gorillas with a Z?" Skuld asked, confused and slightly intrigued.
Lind nodded. "Jackson- or Urd- has interesting taste in music. The earbuds help too. Noise cancelling. I don't hear the idiots next door."
"You don't want to join the Great Dinner Debacle?" Skuld teased.
"The last fuck I gave about the food I ate fled my plate over a century ago," Lind said with a small smile. "I'll eat what I'm given and if I really need meat, I've got more caribou jerky than I can stand to tide me over. Makes no difference to me."
Skuld snickered, then paused. "Wait... those things are noise cancelling?" She pointed to the earbuds, and Lind nodded. "Then how did you hear me?"
Lind smirked before popping the earbud back into place and closing her eyes once more. "I heard you talking shit," she revealed, and said nothing else.
Skuld stared at the woman with a start, and then laughed, leaving the Valkyrie to her 'Rj's' and 'Z-Gorrillas' as she headed for the dining room.
Urd was already at the table. She looked both irritated and bored, facing towards the kitchen where she got a pristine view of the argument playing out before her. Skuld pulled a chair up to join her, and for several minutes the sisters said nothing as they watched Keiichi and Nebo argue about food while Aiko tried to play peacekeeper. "Think we should tell them?" Skuld asked.
Urd grunted, then buried her face in her arms on top of the table. She muttered something Skuld didn't catch.
"Yeah, I hear you," Skuld mumbled. "You gotta back me up though."
A thumbs-up was all she got from her sister, and after another couple of minutes, Skuld sighed, stood up, and approached the trio in the kitchen. Keiichi was delving into the protein value of steak. Nebo looked a little disgusted. "Since you guys can't work together and solve this issue yourselves I guess that means we have to take over and make the decision for you," Skuld announced, her voice projecting loud and clear above both Keiichi and Nebo. "We'll make a vegetarian meal that everyone can enjoy, okay? Magilla, since you're so desperate for meat, go broil some chicken to have with it, that way you can still get the protein you're so desperate for."
Aiko mouthed a 'thank-you' to her.
Keiichi bristled. "Why are you taking his side?" he demanded. "Is this 'cause I'm a mortal?"
He got a collective groan from those present.
"No Jank, it isn't," Urd groaned as she came to stand next to her sister. "Nebo's a Tic. Certain Tics have specific diet requirements because of a pledge they take. He's one of them. And Skuld and I generally try to avoid most meats."
"Bullshit," Keiichi said. "I've seen you eat meat before."
"You've seen us eat poultry and fish," Skuld growled. "Not red meats." She eyed Urd. "Especially me. I can stand jerky on occasion, but... " She shuddered. "Not much, and not often, and no raw meats."
"Are you fucking... " Keiichi paused, staring from one sister to the other. "You're serious," he stated. "Wait, is this for all of you? Belldandy never had any issues!"
The two sisters shared a grimace that highlighted their relation. "Bell's different from us," Urd said. "She... " The goddess paused, then looked to Skuld, who shrugged as well. The Norn took a deep breath. "How can I explain this..." she grumbled. "So... Skuld and I... had a... hmm... we'll call it a bad experience with red meat one time."
Skuld released a sharp bark of laughter. "If that's what you want to call it," she growled.
"You want to explain it?" Urd looked at Skuld, and flushing, the dark-haired Norn dropped her gaze. "That's what I thought." She looked back to Keiichi. "We had... a bad case of food poisoning. We ate some red meat that made us pretty sick, and, well, after that we just kind of started avoiding it all together."
Keiichi raised an eyebrow. "What kind of 'red meat'? Beef? Pork? Some kind of game-animal?" he asked. "Just 'red meat' is a little vague, I mean, it's a pretty big category, you know."
"Red meat," Urd replied. "We're... not sure what it was. But it was... pretty bad."
Aiko crossed her arms over her chest. "You know, my bullshit meter is going off the charts again, just like it was when you tried to tell me about the whole UN crap."
"Red meat," Skuld replied. "That's it. And that's all you're getting from us, as well."
"I don't believe it." Keiichi eyed her critically. "What about all the meat Jackson had left over from the barbeque?"
"You and Belldandy polished it off," Urd replied. "Skuld and I never touched it."
"We ate the veggie burgers McGuinness brought, though," Skuld said. "Otherwise they'd still be in the freezer."
"Swedish meatballs?"
"I convinced Belldandy to use ground chicken instead," Skuld replied.
Another look between Keiichi and Aiko. Keiichi looked back to Urd. "How come you never said anything before?"
"Because of this exact conversation," Urd retorted. "Try explaining this to a family of hunters and warriors who consider shit like this sacrilegious."
Skuld stood and puffed up her chest before pounding it with one of her fists. "What be you, a doe?" she said in a deep, accented voice. "Should we hunt ye' next?" Beside her, Urd cringed.
Keiichi stared at Urd in concern. "I don't know how to take this," he admitted. "It's like, everything I've known about you has been a lie. I-I feel so betrayed! You act like you're from Australia, for fucks sake! Don't they eat alligator down there?"
"Alligator is a white meat, Jank," Urd replied. "So... yes?"
"ARGH!" The man clutched his skull. "You mean I gotta go through swamplands in the South in order to get fucking steaks now? And it's got to be alligator?"
The two sisters stared at him, then at each other. Urd looked back at Keiichi. "Yes."
"This is some fucking bullshit!" he exclaimed.
"I still don't believe it." Aiko said.
"Can we please just take it for what it's worth and let this conversation drop?" Nebo begged.
XXX
They ended up having curry that night. Aiko was impressed. Nebo was relieved. Even Keiichi was satisfied, though the others had more reason to believe that had to do with the curry's flavor than anything else. Peorth ended up helping Belldandy in the kitchen since there were so many people to feed, and in the end Lind surprised everyone by complimenting the meal in a rare show of approval. "It reminds me a little of what my old OIC used to bring in on special occasions," Lind had said, and her smile had been wistful and somewhat sad.
The meal had probably been the most peaceful event of the day with everyone gathered in one place, and the atmosphere was almost friendly if not for the almost awkward silence that hung over everyone's head. Even Aiko's attempt to lighten the mood fell flat, and after her first joke was met with an almost painful silence, she made no further attempts.
Urd and Skuld took over with dishes following the meal, and as they worked, the conversation moved onto another issue that had not been addressed yet: the ever-so-popular matter of sleeping arrangements. Nebo wasn't leaving until he was certain that Holy Bell was on the way to recovery, and Peorth still had a wish to grant to Keiichi on top of her aid in Holy Bell's recovery. Lind wasn't about to leave any of the gods with the number of fights that had been breaking out while Skuld wasn't about to leave Belldandy in such a time of need. And that wasn't counting Aiko, who didn't feel safe leaving Keiichi alone until matters had settled between himself and the Norn. That, combined with the usual residents of Keiichi, Belldandy, and Urd, led to complications in who was sleeping where.
"No, you used that UN regs bullshit on me last time," Aiko said. "It ain't happening this time. Last time I slept with you guys I ended up getting spooned rather intimately by Urd."
Urd flinched. "Hey, that's not how I-"
Skuld interrupted her with a loud groan. "Oh Yggdrasil I don't even want to think of that anymore. Peorth, back us up here! It's not allowed, right?"
Peorth looked between the two sisters in the kitchen and Belldandy. She was sitting at the table, her head propped up one hand as she looked between the Norns with drowsy eyes. The medallion on her chest glowed with a soft and ethereal glow, and it was starting to have an effect on her. Now, the goddess raised her hands up in front of her chest. "Wow, don't bring me in on this. My mother didn't have any such paranoia about my brothers and boy cousins raping me in the middle of the night like yours did."
Skuld, a pan still in hand and filled with water, turned to face Peorth in horror. Her jaw dropped as she looked to Belldandy. "You told her about that?!"
Belldandy winced. "Well, that was a long-"
"Wait, you mean to tell me that you don't want me to sleep in the same bed as my brother because your MOTHER said so?" Aiko demanded.
Some of the horror fell from Skuld's face "Well, when you put it that way…"
Urd cringed. "We had an uncle who fucked horses, okay?" she snapped. "It's not like her fears weren't justified."
Aiko jumped like she'd seen a ghost. "Jesus fuck!"
Keiichi recoiled. "Christ, Urd!
"Goodness, I'm not sure I needed to know that," Peorth muttered.
Lind recoiled. "Okay, too much information there."
Nebo looked thoughtful. "I think I might know who you're speaking of... "
"Urd, what the fuck!?" Skuld exclaimed.
"Who told you that!?" Belldandy demanded.
"Take a wild guess," Urd called from over her shoulder.
Belldandy grimaced. "I can think of a person or two," she muttered, and rubbed her brow as if in pain. "But those are supposed to be rumors!"
"Not from what I was told," Urd replied.
Aiko crossed her arms in a large 'X' over her head. "Yo! Can we stop this conversation before it gets weirder? Please?" she exclaimed, and got murmured agreements from those around her as well. "Let's move back to the subject of sleeping arrangements. Because I'm counting eight people down here in a three bedroom house, and I don't think any of us are leaving anytime soon."
"Two bedrooms," Nebo corrected. "Holy Bell is occupying one, with the potential for other angels to join in as well."
"Two bedrooms," Aiko nodded, then paused to look over at Nebo. "Two bedrooms? Are you serious?" she demanded. At the man's nod, she swore. "Well, okay then, that makes things a bit more cramped now, doesn't it?" She made a face. "I'm not sleeping with Belldandy again. Or Urd, for that matter. If it's all fine and dandy with you- or even if it's not- I'm going to shack up with my brother tonight."
"But that's-" Belldandy began to protest, only for Nebo to speak over her.
"That's fine, Kyz, right? I can sleep down here on the couch. I ain't picky where I sleep." He smiled, looking very much like he wanted to move on before another argument could break out. "Lind, how 'bout you?"
The Valkyrie shrugged. "Guess I'll take the recliner," she said. "Or the floor. Doesn't matter to me."
"Wonderful!" Nebo cried. "That's half of us down. Peorth? How about you?"
Peorth jumped at the sound of her name. It looked like she'd been dozing at the dining room table. "Bed?" she asked. "What? Oh, yes, a bed sounds lovely, I..." She trailed off, then looked around her blankly. "There's only one bed available, isn't there."
"Blow-up matt-" Skuld began.
"Dibs!" Aiko cried.
"Shit!" Skuld snarled.
Urd groaned and bowed her head. "You know what?" she said. "Fuck it. There's too many people in the house and the weather's nice. I'm sleeping beneath the stars tonight."
"Wow, wait a second, Urd you don't need to fucking go outside and camp," Keiichi exclaimed. "The house is big enough for everybody. We'll find some place for everyone."
"Who said anything about camping?" Urd asked, moving away from the sink to dry her hands. "I'm hanging my hammock. No rain's forecasted for the night and the weather's warm enough that I don't need any blankets. Bell? Peorth? You guys fight over my room. I'm heading outside while there's still some light."
"Wait, you're gonna sleep in your hammock?" Skuld followed after her. "Can I join too?" she asked, and there was a touch of almost innocent excitement in her voice. "I love sleeping in your hammock! It's the best!"
"Sure, why not?" Urd shrugged. "There's enough room for four people. Anyone else who wants to is welcome to join."
"Pass." Lind said. "I need something solid beneath me."
"I'm good with the couch, Kyz."
"Blow-up mattress!" Aiko chirped.
Keiichi frowned. "Urd, you sure about this?" he asked. "I'm not trying to chase you out of the house." He looked upset at the prospect of one of his closest friends sleeping outside.
Yet Urd waved him off. "It's fine," she said. "I prefer it, actually," she admitted. "Beds are uncomfortable, but the weather here and back home is too cold for me to use my hammock most days, so I enjoy using it when I can."
Belldandy stared at her in mixed confusion and surprise. "When was this?" she asked. "I don't think I've ever once seen you use a hammock."
Urd shrugged. "Like I said, back home it's too cold most days to use it as a bed- you're supposed to use it for the really hot days, but I don't think Asgard ever gets over sixty five degrees. Needs to be at least in the seventies to be comfortable, or you need extra bodies for extra warmth." She paused, staring at Belldandy in keen interest. "You've... never slept in a hammock before, have you?"
"No..." Belldandy said. "I haven't."
"Want to join us?" Urd offered. "Sleep outside and give Peorth the bed so she can't bitch?"
"Bed..." The woman in question's head dipped and rose as the goddess fought off her own exhaustion.
Belldandy stared at the woman, and then back to her sisters, uncertain. Skuld smiled at her. "Yeah, hey, that'll be fun," she said. "Come on, let's go sleep out in the hammock. Best night's sleep you'll have since coming to the States. Promise."
"Um..." Belldandy hesitated, looking between her sisters and then back to Keiichi. "Can I... can I still borrow one of your pillows, Keiichi?" She bit her lip, suddenly shy. "I mean- you don't have to or anything! I just- I thought, um, I, I don't want any..." She grimaced, then looked to the floor. "Um... no, forgive me. Forget I said anything. I'll... I'll manage."
Keiichi flinched, and Aiko wasn't the only one who saw the hurt on his face. "Bell, you can still borrow my pillow if you want," he said. "I'll just... need another one since... ah... I guess my other one Is being... used, I guess?" He scratched the back of his neck, looking uncertain.
"Ah! Right!" Belldandy yelped. "Holy Bell is- I forgot! Forgive me, I'll go get it back right now!" She began to rush towards the stairs, pausing only at the large outcry from the others.
"Bell, relax!" Urd cried. "I'll conjure some spare pillows for everyone, okay? That way Jank still has a pillow and the others can have some pillows too without disturbing Holy Bell. She needs the cushioning, remember?"
"Right! Got it!" Belldandy wheeled around like a dog that had reached the end of her rope. "Got it! Okay!" She looked at Urd with antsy eyes. "But, I mean- is it okay for me to join you?" She asked, "Really? I mean, I don't want to impose and-"
"Big Sister," Skuld said, her voice soft but drawing Belldandy's attention. "Shut up and sleep outside with us tonight. Please?"
Belldandy stared at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. Urd too, for that matter. "Okay," Belldandy said.
"Good," Urd said, and her face brightened in a smile. "Well, there we go! Sleeping arrangements taken care of! Now let's go outside. Hanging a hammock is a bitch in the dark."
XXX
There was still a light hue to the sky as the sisters went outside. Urd muttered a quick spell beneath her breath, and with it, a black, nylon bag, or something similar to nylon, appeared in her hands. The porch lights were on, which helped, and together the Norns scouted the area for trees to hang the hammock from. They found a pair of good, strong ones near the edge of the forest, and setting the bag down Urd undid the drawstring and pulled out a large, tight-weave violet hammock. It smelled of lavender and jasmine.
"You remember how to tie the ropes around the trees?" Urd asked, and Skuld nodded, taking two sets of black rope and heading off. With Skuld tying the suspension straps around the tree trunks, Urd unrolled the hammock, unwrapping it and checking for any twists in the material that might affect it's structural integrity. She heard the porch door open and close, but thought little of it, assuming it was Belldandy coming to join them after grabbing her pillow from Keiichi.
As such, she was surprised when Aiko's voice met her ears. "Hey."
The goddess paused, looking up at the blue haired mortal from where she knelt on the ground. She raised an eyebrow at the woman, finding it odd that Keiichi's younger sister would seek her out of everyone in the house. "Evening."
"Um... can I talk to you? You and Skuld?" Aiko asked, and the Norn straightened, staring at the young woman with furrowed brows as she set more of her attention on the college student.
"Let Skuld finish tying the suspension ropes. It gets difficult in the dark."
Aiko nodded and stood back, allowing Urd to return to her task of untwisting ropes and searching for holes within the hammock. When she was finished, she folded it on top of its ruck, then rose to stand by Aiko as Skuld finished tying the second suspension rope. The younger woman frowned as she caught sight of the mortal standing beside her sister, and jogged over to join them.
"Hey Aiko. What's up?" Skuld said, her tone light and inviting despite the borderline-suspicion on her face.
Aiko's mouth twisted into a scowl, and for a long moment she was silent. Skuld came to stand beside her sister, and together the two Norns watched the woman, waiting for the mortal to speak.
"I heard what happened." Aiko finally said. "About... about Kei and Bell. From both of them." She bit her lower lip, and there was a subtle shift in body language as the two sisters went on guard. Skuld narrowed her eyes at the woman, growing tense, whereas Urd's arms crossed over her chest, her expression growing blank as she stared down at Aiko. The blue haired woman didn't appear to notice.
Instead, with stiff shoulders the college student placed her arms flat against her sides and bowed lowly to the two goddesses. "Thank you very much," she said, and her voice trembled with emotion. "For-for saving him. My brother." She straightened, and in the fading light there were tears in her eyes. "I don't know- I can't-" She sniffed, and bequeathed them both a watery smile filled with a relief that was almost palpable. "He means the world to me... I know you had your own reasons for bringing him back- I-I know you didn't have to save him, but... I'm grateful. Honestly." She scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Thank you both so much for bringing him back. I can't... express my gratitude enough."
The woman's sincerity caught the two sisters off guard, neither having expected any sort of thanks for their actions since Belldandy's episode in Keiichi's room. It was strange seeing the woman so humble, as Aiko had always come across as cheerful and carefree while around them. It was disorienting, and it left the sisters speechless as they tried to gauge their reactions. They shared a look, and each found in the face of the other the same level of discomfort so felt by themselves before turning back to Aiko.
"You're welcome," Urd ventured, uncomfortable amidst Aiko's gratitude. She rubbed the back of her neck, looking past Aiko and back to the house. "Jank is... important. He's my... he's my friend too. I... wasn't about to let Bell-" She cut herself off, feeling a spark of fresh anger flare in her chest. She sucked in a deep breath, trying to soothe the flames before they could spread and grow larger. "You're welcome, Aiko."
"Yeah," Skuld eyed Urd, taking her cues from her elder sister before continuing. "Your brother's done a lot for us. I mean, he's an idiot, yeah, but none of us- none of us want to see him die."
Aiko managed a smile and even a small laugh at Skuld's comments. She wiped her eyes again. "Still... I mean, you guys are gods and all... you didn't have to do any of that, yet you brought my big brother back- you brought him back from death, and it means a lot. Not just to me, but to the rest of our family too. And to Team Twelve as well... he doesn't admit it, but he's got a lot of people who care for him. So thanks. Again." She laughed again and sniffed loudly. "Gosh, I can't stop thanking you guys tonight, can I?" She asked, "I'm going to need to find a way to really show my thanks... "
Urd laughed nervously, and even Skuld's smile looked a little strained. "Please don't," she said. "We're just trying to live out a somewhat normal life down here. We don't need people freaking out on us or anything, okay? It was nothing, really."
"It was nothing..." Aiko grinned and looked to the ground. "You bring a man back from the dead and say 'it was nothing'. You guys really are gods, aren't you?" She snorted. "I think I understand where you're coming from, though." She pursed her lips, then fell silent for a time. "Will you guys keep an eye on him for me?" she asked. "I know this is a lot to ask, given everything else you've done, but... something tells me he's going to need some extra help." She drew her hands up to her chest. "I'm not trying to say that Belldandy is going to try and kill him again, but... well, flashbacks are... flashbacks are hard to work around, and, well... Bell's still got a long way to go before she recovers. I just..." She scratched the back of her head, then let her hand drop with a shrug of her shoulders.
"I understand," Urd said. "And I'll keep an eye on him. I'll... do what I can to make sure he stays safe. For Jank and Belldandy's sakes."
Aiko stared at her for a moment, and then surprised Urd by stepping forward and embracing the woman. "Thank you, Urd. It means a lot, knowing he's got a goddess watching over him."
And it was only Skuld who was saw the melancholy that came to rest upon her sister's face. "Yeah... not a problem. We all love that idiot in our own special way, right?"
The youngest Norn felt her heart wrench at the almost pitiful sight, and looked off towards the house when Urd looked her way. "Right."
XXX
After a bit more innocent chatter, Aiko departed inside.
As she left, Belldandy slipped outside, bearing with her a pillow, a teddy bear, and the old pink ship blanket that Keiichi had lent to Jackson when he'd spent the night. Skuld stared at it before saying in her deepest voice, "The shit's pink, Bell."
Belldandy stared at her sister, then smiled and shook her head. "I take it Aiko is retiring for the night?"
Urd grabbed the folded hammock and handed one end to Skuld, who headed off to tie the hook to the suspension strap around a tree. Urd, with the rest of the hammock piled high on her shoulder, moved to do the same on the other tree, while the hammock slowly unfolded as it was spread between the two trunks.
As she helped tie one end of the huge hammock, Skuld looked back to the house. She saw the light in Keiichi's room go out and shuddered. "Ugh, it just creeps me out thinking about them like that," she said.
"They come from a different upbringing than us," replied Belldandy.
"Yeah, where incest is a way of life," retorted Skuld as she finished her knot. She fixed the almond haired goddess with a glare. "When I see things like that, I just can't believe you are seriously thinking of staying and not coming home like I suggested."
Urd, who was also finishing up tying her end of the hammock, paused and looked at her youngest sister. "Wait, what?"
Skuld, for a moment, looked as if she had realized she had said too much. "Belldandy and I had a talk," she said after shaking it off.
"About…?" drawled Urd.
"About her coming home and saying with me," replied the youngest of the Norns.
"And why would that be a better solution than her staying here?"
"Are you serious right now?" Skuld let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, she's a danger to him," she said matter-of-factly. "She knows it, and I think Magilla does as well. It would be better for everyone involved if she left him and just came back to Asgard and lived with me. We could go back home, Holy Bell wouldn't have to hide in a bedroom all day long, and Bell would be surrounded by all the Tics in the world to help her recover." She shrugged self-consciously. "I mean, it's her wish, she can annul it any time she wants."
Urd came around the hammock and stared down Skuld. "And what about me?" she demanded. "Would I have any input in this discussion?" She put her hands on her hips. "She's my fucking sister, too!"
For a moment, Skuld looked ashen. "I-I-I'm sorry, I… didn't think about that."
"Please, let's not fight before we go to bed," begged Belldandy. "Besides, it's not your choice. It's mine, and I won't be swayed by either of you." There was an edge of steel in her voice. "I said this to Skuld and I'll say this to you, Urd- I am not a child that is incapable of caring for herself. I can make my own choices and I will make my own choices, and no one else will make those choices in my stead."
Urd turned her attention to the middle Norn. "And what was that choice?" she demanded. "What did you say?"
Belldandy squared up to her sister. "I said that it's up to Keiichi," she replied. "I want him to be the one to make this decision. I will abide by his wishes since he was the one who was wronged here."
The two goddesses stared at each other for a moment before Urd smiled, probably for the first time all day. "Well, at least one of us has some common sense," she said. She then turned and climbed into the hammock. "Come on, everyone needs to climb in at once or it won't be balanced. Skuld already knows this, but you need to lay at an angle with this type of hammock, otherwise you'll roll yourself and probably the rest of us out as well."
"Right..." Belldandy crawled unsteadily up into the hammock, joining Urd as she tried to get comfortable. "Ah... you're certain this will hold all three of us?" She sounded nervous.
Skuld joined them, and Belldandy tensed as the hammock swayed even more. Her eyes darted to the trees supporting them, as if expecting the ropes to snap at any moment.
"Relax Bell," Urd said. "I told you, this is designed to hold up to four people. It's not going to drop us." The unsteady swaying began to lessen as Skuld made herself comfortable, leaving Belldandy nestled in the middle of her sisters.
"Yeah. It's only the first time that's a little scary," Skuld agreed. "Afterwards it's pretty fun. And relaxing too. And when's the last time you ever slept under the stars like this?"
Belldandy, her tension easing in light of her sisters' reassurance, tilted her head up to the sky. The night was clear, the waning moon just past full and the stars bright pinpricks above her head. No Manni, chased by wolves in his chariot overhead. Just his lantern hanging and bright to illuminate the sky. It was calming. Like the gentle swing of the hammock or the scents of lavender and jasmine emanating around them. The hammock enveloped the three of them like a large violet cocoon. "I suppose you're right," she said at length, watching as high overhead a comet streaked by. "It has been a long time since I've slept under the stars."
They talked then, for a time. They shared stories both real and fabricated. They spoke of joys. They spoke of tragedies. They teased each other and joked of those in the house. They laughed and cried and poked and prodded, as all sisters do to each other, and spoke of those secrets shared only by the divine and demonic. And in the end, the gentle sway of the hammock and the night sounds of the forest lulled first Skuld, then Belldandy, and finally even Urd, off to sleep.
XXX
What is an angel?
In the greatest and truest sense of the word, an angel is an aspect of the soul.
A creature of pure essence, they are magical creatures designed by the gods themselves. Two gods, in truth. One an ancient god whose people were forgotten and trampled by time and dust. The other a young god still new and arrogant in his position. The original intent had been simple: Man was no longer fit to serve his gods, for Man had been born with the horrible disease of Free Will as was inherent in all things born of an Ancient One's body and an Elder God's essence. That horrible disease had evolved with Man over the decades and had borne with it a new and horrible strand: Choice. The Choice to listen. The Choice to obey. The Choice to ignore. The Choice to rebel.
And as Man explored the possibilities of Free Will and its child, Choice, so too did the gods seek out new creatures to serve their will. For the gods back then, even as now, were lazy and at times lofty creatures, and could not be bothered with trivial tasks. And so they turned to a Scholar whose words were the experience of the old ways and a Youth whose arrogance spoke of ingenuity and free thought. And it was these two who were tasked, and their task was simple: Make us servants.
With task in hand the two gods, Old Man and Young Man, went to work, and what they worked were miracles.
Two ideas. Two possibilities. Two prototypes.
From Young Man: A perfect creature made of nothing but the divine essence. It bore thirty-six wings made of light, and its flesh burned like a silver torch in the eye of the beholder. One that lacked the Madness of Choice and who obeyed without question, with a loyalty that bordered on devotion. He brought before the Daitenkaicho of his time a Seraphim, and presented it as a gift. "Metatron shall be your servant," said Young Man. "And shall serve you at your throne." And indeed it did, and its light and beauty were without comparison, and deities from the Four Corners of the Nine Worlds came to view its magnificence. Yet it lacked depth, and those who viewed it claimed it cold and unfeeling; a machine, not a creature. It held no desire, no drive to fulfill the tasks given to it, and though it performed its tasks in the most perfect aspect, it was without inspiration, enthusiasm, or joy. It observed the audience which came to view it with cold and unfeeling eyes that burned like suns, and though it was an impressive sight, those who laid eyes upon it were left unnerved and troubled.
"It is cold," they said. "Take it away. Though it burns, it holds no warmth. Give us something else."
Old Man stepped forth, then, and presented this: an ugly creature with a body like gas, fashioned from the miasma of an Ancient One. It stalked Old Man's shadow, an unholy beast whose appearance differed to everyone who laid eyes upon it. To the Warriors, it presented Defeat. To the young in gave them Age. For the Harvest it depicted Death. A macabre creature, the Ssaratu did not speak, did not obey, and instead chose to watch. Rumors of its power spread far and wide, and gods flocked to it with a morose sense of wonder, curious as to what they would see for the creature was never the same to any two gods, and in the end always repulsed the deities who gazed upon its form.
"It is cruel," they said. "Take it away. It reveals to us harsh truths made flesh. Give us something else."
Disgraced, Young Man and Old Man departed, one with an angel too cold, the other with an angel too cruel.
Together, they went about their work once more, and all the while their angels watched on. One without drive, the other without form.
"The Seraphim lacks life," Young Man said. "It is a golem. How do I give it emotion without granting it Will?"
"My Ssaratu lacks form," Old Man said. "Yet I do not know how to stabilize it."
And so Young Man and Old Man sat and pondered and spoke, yet neither one grew any closer to the answers they sought. Young Man went and produced more Seraphim, each one different from before yet all still lacking the Will that made Man so undesirable. Old Man experimented with his SSaratu, his lone Ssaratu, in an attempt to give it form and to have it obey his desires.
Each attempt at Seraphim ended without emotion.
Each evolution of the SSaratu left it as wild and uncontrollable as before.
"What must we do?" they asked their angels. What must happen in order to perfect you?"
Yet the Seraphim responded only to orders and the SSaratu gave no advice, forcing the two deities to continue their research.
Young Man created a divine hierarchy of angels, with Metatron at its head. Beneath Metatron, more Seraphim, joined with Cherubim and Thrones in the First Generation, or First Sphere, as it came to be called. He lessened their power with each new angel, and as the Second Generation, or Second Sphere bore fruit, so too did the Choir of Dominions, Virtues, and Powers. Though this generation was weaker than the First Sphere, they were not so lacking in purpose. These ones held drive, and fulfilled their roles with a confidence that was absent in the First Sphere. It was an improvement, yet to Young Man, who saw himself as a perfectionist, they were not good enough. A Third Generation, a Third Sphere, was crafted, and these with the weakest of powers yet holding a concept that perhaps bordered a little closer to Will: These the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, for lack of a better title. And with each new Generation, each new type, Young Man took what he learned and applied it to Metatron, and watched his favored angel evolve like Man.
And as Young Man created generations of angels, Old Man focused on his lone little SSaratu, vicious creature though it was. He gave it eleven different forms, and each one was fierce and terrible: Bašmu, the venomous snake, Ušumgallu, a Great Dragon, Mušmaḫḫū anexalted serpent, and Mušḫuššu, the furious snake. Yet each form held venom, and its wild nature endangered those who approached it. And so he created Laḫmu the hairy one, Ugallu the big weather-beast, Uridimmu, a mad dog, and Umū Dabrūtu, the Violent Storms. Yet these held an uncontrolled madness to them which frightened even Old Man, Him Who Fought against the Ancient Ones. Each form here, though absent of venom, held at their core a frightening rage that spoke of the slain Ancient Ones, and that rage was terrible. He banished each form without thought, and again moved to a new attempt. The Girtablullû, aScorpion-Man, Kulullû, aFish-Man and Kusarikku, the Bull-Man. These ones were calm and without poison (except for Girtablullû, and for that reason alone it was banished) but they held forms others found despicable. Yet there was intellect in its actions now. It no longer lashed out without reason, but sat silently and watched. In his dreams, Old Man even heard it speak.
Yet all work comes to a blockade, and so too was the case with Young Man and Old Man and their two prototypes. Young Man could not find a way to bring his angel emotion. Old Man could not hide the terrible truths his angel revealed. At a standstill, the two came together to discuss ideas, and brought their angels with them. They sat in conference, discussing possibilities, and perhaps it would have been a meeting best kept in private.
Who can honestly judge the level of intelligence from a creature that never speaks, after all?
No one, not Young Man, not Old Man, not even the Seraphim, expected the SSaratu to attack. Yet attack it did, and it bore in its nature the madness of the old, the insanity of Man, and with its hands alone it tore apart the Seraphim. In horror Old Man cried out. In horror Young Man lashed out, and tore to pieces the Ssaratu that so killed the Seraphim.
Cruel and terrible, yes, but these were the old times, where such things as 'angels' were a mere concept still in development. There were no laws that protected them. They were not yet hosted by a deity.
Yet it was from these two destroyed prototypes that something new spawned. The essence, the blood, that so filled the Seraphim and Ssaratu mixed in their death. And what they found amidst the carnage of defeat was an egg. A small egg. One that would have gone unnoticed if not for the ethereal glow it carried even while coated in the blood of its parent. No one knew how the egg had come about. The Seraphim? Its form was androgynous. It was not a creature developed with genitalia. The SSaratu? Like the Seraphim. It had no body that would allow for reproduction. Was it made from the magic held within the combined essence of the fallen prototypes? Perhaps. Yet Old Man had no more SSaratu and Young Man would not risk his Seraphim and the end result would not be recreated.
And so they took the egg and they observed it, waiting and watching and testing it for signs of what might rest inside. Seraphim or SSaratu? A mixture of the two or something else entirely? They poked and prodded and incubated, yet nothing they did hinted at what lay within. The essence it held was convoluted and indescribable. The embryo unknown and concealed within a shell too thick to pierce. Yet at night, they dreamed of it: a creature half-born and waiting to emerge. "Come to me." It whispered to Young Man, who would awaken with a terrible yearning in his breast for reasons he could not explain. "Come to me." It sang to Old Man, who at one time awoke to find himself in the threshold of the room holding the egg, confused at to what his Dream-Self had so wanted to accomplish.
Day after day, no progress made. Night after night, Young Man awoke sweating and Old Man found himself closer and closer to the egg. Old Man grew fearful as the dreams grew stronger, until the one night he feared the most arrived.
One night, he awoke to find the egg was gone.
He awoke as it slid down his throat, and he could feel it passing into his stomach as he grew conscious once more.
They say the first summoning of an angel can be painful for gods who fear their other half. The stronger the fear, the more painful the summoning, and oh, lordy, did Old Man have fear to spare. He did not understand what was happening. He did not understand what was emerging nor why, and that unknown terrified him.
It's said the angel emerged in a hail of blood and terror from that fear, and that its form was strange and alien, mutated by the potent horror that filled Old Man. It resembled neither the Seraphim with its many wings and many eyes and many mouths nor the SSaratu with its poison, but a new creature entirely. It is said that Young Man appeared in the moment of its birth, bearing with him another Seraphim that was at once attacked, just as before. Yet this attack was different, this attack was strange, for the eerie angel, mutated as it was, had a form like that of the SSaratu: gaseous and flowing and chaotic. It wrapped itself around the Seraphim and entered through its mouth, and in that manner was said to have possessed the entity.
And then it spoke.
"See me, for I am whole." It said toYoung Man and Old Man. "I stand before you no longer half a beast, for my form is whole. I stand before you no longer a golem, for I have gained Insight. Through host of a deity, I have gained wisdom and empathy, and now I speak my truth to you: for you who have brought me into this land, I give you my children. Let them guide you when you have no one else to turn to. Let them speak the truths you would run from. Let them warm you when you are cold. And in return let them take from you what makes them whole: Compassion, for it is lacking in this cruel land. Form, so that your people may know us as brethren and not fear the truths we harbor. And we shall serve you and we shall love you and we shall aid you, for you are what makes us whole. For we are the you that is hidden."
Compassion.
The one aspect lacking within the Seraphim of old, which grew as servants and as weapons in the wake of these new and strange angels which emerged as eggs from the blood of their parent and hatched within the soul of their deity.
Compassion for themselves.
Curled up within their hosts, they listen for the voice of their sister, and emerge as their Other Halves fall to rest. On the beats of silent wings they approach the room their sibling recovers in and slip inside. She is weak and she is ill, yet to them it is of little consequence. She is in need, and so they come to aid, to pay their respects and to lend her the strength she no longer has. Left Wing, too jaded to provide emotional support, stands by the door as guard, listening for intruders. Right Wing, new and filled with the emotions lost to her mother-sister, goes and sits with Black Wing, who helps cushion Featherless and gently massages potions into what remains of the muscle in her wings. It smells of lavender and jasmine and soothes them all, and Right Wing thinks Featherless must be cold without any feathers and Featherless says she is, and Left Wing promises they'll knit a sweater to help keep her warm. Thorn has a brush and is gentle as she combs out the filth stuck in Featherless's hair, and tells tales of enchantment that are bewitching to Right Wing, and Tiny Wings, who is still young and knows little of the world. Featherless, still filled with anxiety and no feathers to pluck, abolishes her worry by shredding the pages of a large book Tiny Wings had found in a box in the closet. Tiny Wings curls up with Featherless like the forgotten child she is, and it invokes coos and happy sighs from all present.
Compassion for each other.
Black Wing apologizes to Thorn, and likewise so does Thorn, and through the window even the Elder One appears, a dark shadow that is difficult for even the angels to see. Left Wing recognizes the Elder though, and for a moment is happy as she introduces the old angel to the rest of the choir. The Elder's appearance is fearsome, though it speaks with a soft and kind voice, and the hands once designed to kill now are gentle as it aids Black Wing in her ministrations. It tells Featherless that she must sing if she is to heal herself and her host.
Compassion like that of Humanity, when the moon fades and the madness wanes and all that is left are those aspects which make mortals shine even to the gods.
"Come on, Kei. You aren't the least bit curious?"
"Not in the slightest. I saw all I ever needed to see of angels and I promised Urd I wouldn't peek. I'm not about to break that promise, Aiko."
And so they sing, though their songs go unheard by everyone and everything.
"You can't be serious, Kei. Come on. Just a single peek! Just to see what it looks like! It's been driving me nuts, and with the way Nebo-"
"Go to sleep, Aiko."
They sing for their sister, they sing for each other, they sing for themselves.
"Ugh, I can't believe you're my brother sometimes, Kei. I thought you had a sense of adventure!"
"I'm a little 'adventured' out at the moment, Bengal. Dying will do that to a person."
"Fuck... right, sorry Kei... Forget I said anything. Let's go to sleep."
They sing for the man beside them, they sleep for the woman beside them, they sing for the puma and the opossum and the spider and the trees.
She waited for the steady rhythm of her brother's breath to tell her he was asleep before rolling off the blow-up mattress. Her brother began to snore softly, and she slipped out, the excuse of needing to pee on the tip of her tongue should any step awaken her brother. Yet his hearing was damaged and her steps went unheard, and she slipped out into the hallway in the late night. She debated with herself on what she was about to do-half her courage came from Kei, and that had fled her with his continued refusal to join her on her adventure..
She stared at the door to the room next to her and sighed, steeling herself in an attempt to gather her lacking courage. "It can't hurt, right?" She asked herself, "I mean, it's just a tiny peek. Nothing bad could happen from a little look, right?"
Pandora moves closer to the box that bears her name, and those within rise and fall in the song of the almighty choir. The Elder, who is the true gudan, the 'fierce mother', brings the choir's song down to a hush, and there is a glimmer that surrounds them that is dim in Featherless but bright in the others, and the Elder says it will take time and that it will take patience and not to scratch or pick at her wings. The gudan claims they must leave then, and Featherless is sad to see them leave. She is lonely without her host and without the choir, and when Black Wing and Tiny Wings try to convince the Elder to stay, they are scolded with snarls and growls, for their hosts have overexerted themselves and need their angels back within themselves. Left and Right promise they will return, and Right Wing hugs Featherless with love unconditional, and Left Wing touches her shoulder in a gesture of camaraderie. Thorn promises she will return with the strength of her host, and the gudan ushers them all out the window like a mother hen.
Alone once more and colder than ever, Featherless returns to shredding her papers, unable to sleep now after the visit with her sisters.
Biting her lip, she grabbed the doorknob, expecting it to be locked as she turned it and instead twisting it with no resistance. The door opened without a sound, and with deep reservations she entered, her mind looming and filling with shiny black monsters garbed in haloes and angel wings hiding within.
She freezes in her tearing as the doorknob turns, her eyes drawn and fixated on the door Left Wing had watched minutes before.
The room was dark and ominous, with strange orbs of blue-green light hovering as if by magic. She looked at them in wonder, though could not summon the will to touch them. Instead her gaze turned further inside, and as if pulled by an unknown presence, she stepped inside. The door slid shut behind her, and she was left alone in the darkness with the strange light, her eyes straining for the legendary creature rumored within the room. She saw a presence on the bed, and in the gloom a pair of bright blue eyes reflected the light of the orbs back at her.
She looks to the intruder, ready to call for aid, and recognizes it as the woman next door. She watches the woman's head turn as she observes the foxfire produced by Black Wing as candles, and grows tense as those eyes move and find hers in the darkness. Her face is pale and illuminated with a blue-green cast.
Aiko Morisato found the angel Holy Bell in the darkness of magic in her brother's house, and a single word left her lips:
"Wow."
A/N: Uhg. Aiko, Aiko, Aiko. Surely this will not end badly for her. One more chapter for this arc and we will move on to something else.
Comments of a Madwoman: I love my xenos. Anyone who's familiar with my other fics will tell you that. Hot damned if I wasn't going to find a way to include them in this story.
