*Episode 2*
Tamiya, Ootaki, and what appeared to be half of NIT's campus's population were
having a little party. Well, little isn't exactly the word. Anywhere less remote, their
"little" party would have caused trouble with noise ordinances. Morisato Keiichi and
Belldandy, however, were somewhat distracted. Skuld was in her room, trying to work
on yet another attachment for Banpei-Kun RX, and Urd was trying to get Keiichi drunk
(In hopes that he would seduce her sister). All in all, it was a typical "party night" at
Keiichi's. Seeing as Belldandy seemed to have something on her mind (Keiichi's trying
not to participate is the norm, but Belldandy's usually cooking something for them), they
dragged a *slightly* edited version of my little... visit out of Keiichi, minus the bits
about both how I left and Belldandy's being a goddess. This, obviously, became a bit of
a discussion for the group--Belldandy doesn't normally react like that to strangers, and a
foreigner who knows both her and Keiichi is a prime subject for gossip, especially when
nobody has any idea who he is! Seeing an opportunity, I walked to the door, and
stepped halfway in.
"Are you 'im?" said Tamiya.
"Yes, I'm the one who stopped by earlier." I said.
"Uh-oh," thought Keiichi.
"Why are you here?" said Megumi.
"Actually, I just wanted to tell Morisato-san here that he has potential. Quite a bit of
it."
Everyone except Belldandy was quite confused. Closing the door behind me before
anyone could continue, I stepped out and 'blinked'.
The, quite predictable, result was mass confusion as everyone simultaneously
stampeded out and searched for me, looking under every rock (And in Tamiya's case,
that meant literally).
The next morning, at breakfast, Urd (predictably) had a hangover. Belldandy was
*almost* her usual self (The news I gave her shook her up a bit), Skuld was... well,
Skuld (How else would I describe a perky little physically-14-year-old goddess with a
hammer that she uses to "debug" the universe?). Keiichi was eating (Belldandy's as good
at cooking as I am, although a bit slower at it), and really enjoying himself. I found it to
be an ideal opportunity, and 'blinked' in while Belldandy was in the kitchen.
"Who are you... unghh," said Urd, groaning in pain.
"Let me take care of that." I said, and held up a hand. Urd sighed in relief.
"Answer the question, and how did you DO that?"
"Well, maybe I should show you..." I said, my eyes (pupils, iris, and all) turning white
and starting to glow.
"Oh... my... god...."
At this point, I just smiled. Keiichi had actually stopped eating midbite as he stared.
"W...wh... who is he?" he stammered.
Skuld chimed in with, "Yeah, Urd, who?" just as Belldandy walked in, and dropped
the food. I reacted quickly and caught it telekenetically. "Be a bit more careful. I'd hate
to see such a nice meal go to waste."
"Arigatou," said Belldandy, as polite as always (even in shock).
"No problem," I said, switching to English.
"What did he just say?" said Keiichi (who didn't understand).
"I said, Keiichi that it wasn't a problem. Although your not understanding English is
one," I said (in Japanese again), "Fortunately, it's one I'm going to remedy."
"WHAT?" said Keiichi, his eyes bulging out.
"I said I'm going to remedy the problem," I said holding out my hand and switched
back to English, "There. Problem solved."
"H... HOW?"
"I simply transferred a portion of my knowledge to your brain. Nothing fancy," I
replied.
"You call that 'nothing fancy'?!?" Keiichi replied (In English, I was gratified to see).
"Umm... Keiichi, to *him*, that really wasn't much," said Urd.
"YOU know who he is, too, sis?" said Skuld.
"Of course. You don't?" replied Urd.
"No. Who is he?"
"Umm... Skuld, let me put it this way: he's a bit *central* to things..."
"Kami-sama?!?"
"No, Skuld..." said an exasperated Urd (She had dropped an awfully big hint, after
all...).
"Then who?"
"That's simple, Skuld," I chimed in, "I'm," a string of syllables which the human vocal
chords were *definitely* never intended to produce followed. Skuld's eyes widened.
"No...," she said in disbelief.
"Umm... excuse me...." said Keiichi, "Who IS he, anyway?"
"Who?" Skuld asked me, getting over her shock.
"Him." I said simply, in Nordic so Keiichi wouldn't understand.
"Umm... Skuld? Urd? Belldandy? Everybody seems to know who this guy is except
me." Keiichi added.
"Keiichi," I said, "there are some things mortals were not meant to know. Who I am
comes pretty close to one of them."
"Oh, that's a comfort." Keiichi said sarcastically.
"Look, that's not what I mean, but as I said, it's not something I should be telling
mortals. That's not to say I won't tell you, just that I won't tell a mortal."
"Wait a moment. If you won't tell a mortal, and I'm a mortal, then you WON'T tell
me. So how do you figure you will?"
"The answer's to that's simple, although it will require a bit of explanation."
"I have time."
"Ok. It's two-fold, actually. Remember your wish? To have Belldandy with you
forever? Well, you're mortal, and she's not. When you die, she won't be with you
anymore unless she dies as well. Problem with that is, she CAN'T die. Given that you
will, we've got a bit of a paradox. There're only two ways to solve it. You should be able
to guess what they are."
"I never thought of that.... you mean, either Belldandy has to become a norma-"
I interrupted at this point, "A mortal. She'll never be 'normal', no matter what."
"Err... a mortal... or I..."
I interrupted again, "Have to become IMmortal. And neither I nor Kami-kun like the
former option."
"Kami-KUN?!?!"
"Yes. That's besides the point, though. The problem with the latter, however, is that
to be immortal, you'd have to be a god..."
"Me?!?"
"Yes, but as much as Belldandy might like that option, I don't."
"Why not?" asked Urd.
"Well, Urd, it's an awfully big waste of potential."
"WHAT?!?!" exclaimed Keiichi, "What else is there?!?"
"I'm sorry, Keiichi, you're not ready to hear that part now. And THAT's why I'm
here. I'm going to make *DAMNED* sure you *get* ready."
"Huh?" asked Keiichi, a bit calmer.
"Keiichi, I don't like to interfere with mortal affairs. I have hundreds of things to
teach you, and, to be frank, I also had a *lot* of ways to teach them to you *far* more
indirectly than what I'm doing. I'm talking to you now, up-front, because I think that I
owe you as much of an explanation as I can give, even if it costs me my best options.
That being said, I'd better be going..."
"Wait. One last thing..."
"Fine. One question. I'll answer truthfully, but I may have to refuse to answer."
"Why did you call Kami-sama 'Kami-kun'?"
"And that is another of those things that mortals were not meant to know," I said and
'blinked' out.
Tamiya, Ootaki, and what appeared to be half of NIT's campus's population were
having a little party. Well, little isn't exactly the word. Anywhere less remote, their
"little" party would have caused trouble with noise ordinances. Morisato Keiichi and
Belldandy, however, were somewhat distracted. Skuld was in her room, trying to work
on yet another attachment for Banpei-Kun RX, and Urd was trying to get Keiichi drunk
(In hopes that he would seduce her sister). All in all, it was a typical "party night" at
Keiichi's. Seeing as Belldandy seemed to have something on her mind (Keiichi's trying
not to participate is the norm, but Belldandy's usually cooking something for them), they
dragged a *slightly* edited version of my little... visit out of Keiichi, minus the bits
about both how I left and Belldandy's being a goddess. This, obviously, became a bit of
a discussion for the group--Belldandy doesn't normally react like that to strangers, and a
foreigner who knows both her and Keiichi is a prime subject for gossip, especially when
nobody has any idea who he is! Seeing an opportunity, I walked to the door, and
stepped halfway in.
"Are you 'im?" said Tamiya.
"Yes, I'm the one who stopped by earlier." I said.
"Uh-oh," thought Keiichi.
"Why are you here?" said Megumi.
"Actually, I just wanted to tell Morisato-san here that he has potential. Quite a bit of
it."
Everyone except Belldandy was quite confused. Closing the door behind me before
anyone could continue, I stepped out and 'blinked'.
The, quite predictable, result was mass confusion as everyone simultaneously
stampeded out and searched for me, looking under every rock (And in Tamiya's case,
that meant literally).
The next morning, at breakfast, Urd (predictably) had a hangover. Belldandy was
*almost* her usual self (The news I gave her shook her up a bit), Skuld was... well,
Skuld (How else would I describe a perky little physically-14-year-old goddess with a
hammer that she uses to "debug" the universe?). Keiichi was eating (Belldandy's as good
at cooking as I am, although a bit slower at it), and really enjoying himself. I found it to
be an ideal opportunity, and 'blinked' in while Belldandy was in the kitchen.
"Who are you... unghh," said Urd, groaning in pain.
"Let me take care of that." I said, and held up a hand. Urd sighed in relief.
"Answer the question, and how did you DO that?"
"Well, maybe I should show you..." I said, my eyes (pupils, iris, and all) turning white
and starting to glow.
"Oh... my... god...."
At this point, I just smiled. Keiichi had actually stopped eating midbite as he stared.
"W...wh... who is he?" he stammered.
Skuld chimed in with, "Yeah, Urd, who?" just as Belldandy walked in, and dropped
the food. I reacted quickly and caught it telekenetically. "Be a bit more careful. I'd hate
to see such a nice meal go to waste."
"Arigatou," said Belldandy, as polite as always (even in shock).
"No problem," I said, switching to English.
"What did he just say?" said Keiichi (who didn't understand).
"I said, Keiichi that it wasn't a problem. Although your not understanding English is
one," I said (in Japanese again), "Fortunately, it's one I'm going to remedy."
"WHAT?" said Keiichi, his eyes bulging out.
"I said I'm going to remedy the problem," I said holding out my hand and switched
back to English, "There. Problem solved."
"H... HOW?"
"I simply transferred a portion of my knowledge to your brain. Nothing fancy," I
replied.
"You call that 'nothing fancy'?!?" Keiichi replied (In English, I was gratified to see).
"Umm... Keiichi, to *him*, that really wasn't much," said Urd.
"YOU know who he is, too, sis?" said Skuld.
"Of course. You don't?" replied Urd.
"No. Who is he?"
"Umm... Skuld, let me put it this way: he's a bit *central* to things..."
"Kami-sama?!?"
"No, Skuld..." said an exasperated Urd (She had dropped an awfully big hint, after
all...).
"Then who?"
"That's simple, Skuld," I chimed in, "I'm," a string of syllables which the human vocal
chords were *definitely* never intended to produce followed. Skuld's eyes widened.
"No...," she said in disbelief.
"Umm... excuse me...." said Keiichi, "Who IS he, anyway?"
"Who?" Skuld asked me, getting over her shock.
"Him." I said simply, in Nordic so Keiichi wouldn't understand.
"Umm... Skuld? Urd? Belldandy? Everybody seems to know who this guy is except
me." Keiichi added.
"Keiichi," I said, "there are some things mortals were not meant to know. Who I am
comes pretty close to one of them."
"Oh, that's a comfort." Keiichi said sarcastically.
"Look, that's not what I mean, but as I said, it's not something I should be telling
mortals. That's not to say I won't tell you, just that I won't tell a mortal."
"Wait a moment. If you won't tell a mortal, and I'm a mortal, then you WON'T tell
me. So how do you figure you will?"
"The answer's to that's simple, although it will require a bit of explanation."
"I have time."
"Ok. It's two-fold, actually. Remember your wish? To have Belldandy with you
forever? Well, you're mortal, and she's not. When you die, she won't be with you
anymore unless she dies as well. Problem with that is, she CAN'T die. Given that you
will, we've got a bit of a paradox. There're only two ways to solve it. You should be able
to guess what they are."
"I never thought of that.... you mean, either Belldandy has to become a norma-"
I interrupted at this point, "A mortal. She'll never be 'normal', no matter what."
"Err... a mortal... or I..."
I interrupted again, "Have to become IMmortal. And neither I nor Kami-kun like the
former option."
"Kami-KUN?!?!"
"Yes. That's besides the point, though. The problem with the latter, however, is that
to be immortal, you'd have to be a god..."
"Me?!?"
"Yes, but as much as Belldandy might like that option, I don't."
"Why not?" asked Urd.
"Well, Urd, it's an awfully big waste of potential."
"WHAT?!?!" exclaimed Keiichi, "What else is there?!?"
"I'm sorry, Keiichi, you're not ready to hear that part now. And THAT's why I'm
here. I'm going to make *DAMNED* sure you *get* ready."
"Huh?" asked Keiichi, a bit calmer.
"Keiichi, I don't like to interfere with mortal affairs. I have hundreds of things to
teach you, and, to be frank, I also had a *lot* of ways to teach them to you *far* more
indirectly than what I'm doing. I'm talking to you now, up-front, because I think that I
owe you as much of an explanation as I can give, even if it costs me my best options.
That being said, I'd better be going..."
"Wait. One last thing..."
"Fine. One question. I'll answer truthfully, but I may have to refuse to answer."
"Why did you call Kami-sama 'Kami-kun'?"
"And that is another of those things that mortals were not meant to know," I said and
'blinked' out.