*Episode 12*
A few (relatively) uneventful days later (On a Friday), 'Koujiku' stopped by the
temple while Keiichi was raking the grounds.
"Konnichiwa, Keiichi," I said.
"Konnichiwa, Koujiku-kun," he replied.
"Keiichi, Allison will be arriving tomorrow. I'd like to hold a little welcoming dinner
for her."
Keiichi nodded.
"Well, I'd like to invite you, Belldandy, and Skuld. I'd invite Urd, but I doubt that
would be a good idea."
"What makes you say that?"
"Allison and Urd have... a history. They don't really like each other."
"Wait a moment. Do you mean Allison GRAVESON?"
"That's her last name, yes. How do you know it?"
Keiichi pointed at the note still embedded in the ground.
"Hmm.... Pretty archaic, but Norse runes nonetheless... Hmm... Omedetto, Keiichi. I
presume that name refers to Mikoto?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... What standing orders?"
"Mikoto-sama told me to ask the Goddesses about Ktharra oil. They have..."
"Standing orders to kill anyone who mentions it?"
"How did you know?"
"I'm not surprised. Ktharra oil is really vile stuff."
"How..."
"Ask Urd."
"What?"
"Ask Urd. Mention that I'm an old friend of Allison's."
"Okay. I will."
"Anyway, how does 18 O'clock sound? My place?"
"Sure. I'll tell them."
"Great. See you there," I said and turned to leave, "Sayonara."
"Sayonara, Koujiku-kun. See you tomorrow."
A few hours later, Keiichi asked Urd about Allison.
"Well, Keiichi, before I came here, I was the sysop for Yggdrasil, remember?"
"Hai."
"Allison Graveson has a rather dubious honor among us. She's the only mortal
*ever* to break into Yggdrasil's secure database."
"NANI?"
"Yes. I mean just what I said."
"You mean that she *hacked* into Heaven?"
"Essentially, yes. That BITCH bypassed *all* of my security protocols, creating
enough bugs to keep Skuld busy for days, and to make matters worse, she did it with
*mortal* equipment! I expected to get into ROYAL trouble with Kami-sama! And then,
as if that wasn't enough, Kami-sama forbade me from taking any action against her!"
"Oh. So you want revenge."
"Damn straight, I do!"
"What did she do, anyway? What files did she look at?"
"Only one. Her father's. I managed to stop her before she got to the section on
'present location', though."
"Oh. Koujiku mentioned that she was obsessed with finding him."
"Oh, that's not all. A few years later, I was assigned to grant that BITCH a wish!
Think about it!"
"She met the qualifications?"
"Or so Kami-sama said, but... Arrrggggghhh."
"What did she wish for?"
"To know where her father was."
"That's not that bad."
"Oh, you might think so... except that her father was a Russian POW. The next day,
she hacked into Yggdrasil AGAIN and edited the files on his captors."
"Oh?"
"That... that..."
"What did she do?"
"She cursed them. In such a way that the curse would be removed if and only if they
released her father. Not even we could remove her curse. And Kami-sama STILL
wouldn't let me get revenge..."
"I see. What does that have to do with Ktharra oil?"
"What?!"
"Koujiku knew what Ktharra oil was. When I asked how, he said to ask you and to
say that he was an old friend of Allison's."
"Oh...," said Urd, sounding disappointed, "There was a cross-reference from one of
her father's captors' files to the file on Ktharra oil. She looked it up while she was in
Yggdrasil the second time. Kami-sama forbade me from doing anything about it, though.
Something about her 'being mature enough to handle the information, and to not tell
anyone who wasn't'. He even forbade me from going after anyone she told!"
"Koujiku's safe, then?"
"Yes, he would be, even if it wasn't for that order."
"What do you mean?"
"A few weeks ago, I tried to zap him with a lightning bolt. It didn't work."
A few (relatively) uneventful days later (On a Friday), 'Koujiku' stopped by the
temple while Keiichi was raking the grounds.
"Konnichiwa, Keiichi," I said.
"Konnichiwa, Koujiku-kun," he replied.
"Keiichi, Allison will be arriving tomorrow. I'd like to hold a little welcoming dinner
for her."
Keiichi nodded.
"Well, I'd like to invite you, Belldandy, and Skuld. I'd invite Urd, but I doubt that
would be a good idea."
"What makes you say that?"
"Allison and Urd have... a history. They don't really like each other."
"Wait a moment. Do you mean Allison GRAVESON?"
"That's her last name, yes. How do you know it?"
Keiichi pointed at the note still embedded in the ground.
"Hmm.... Pretty archaic, but Norse runes nonetheless... Hmm... Omedetto, Keiichi. I
presume that name refers to Mikoto?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... What standing orders?"
"Mikoto-sama told me to ask the Goddesses about Ktharra oil. They have..."
"Standing orders to kill anyone who mentions it?"
"How did you know?"
"I'm not surprised. Ktharra oil is really vile stuff."
"How..."
"Ask Urd."
"What?"
"Ask Urd. Mention that I'm an old friend of Allison's."
"Okay. I will."
"Anyway, how does 18 O'clock sound? My place?"
"Sure. I'll tell them."
"Great. See you there," I said and turned to leave, "Sayonara."
"Sayonara, Koujiku-kun. See you tomorrow."
A few hours later, Keiichi asked Urd about Allison.
"Well, Keiichi, before I came here, I was the sysop for Yggdrasil, remember?"
"Hai."
"Allison Graveson has a rather dubious honor among us. She's the only mortal
*ever* to break into Yggdrasil's secure database."
"NANI?"
"Yes. I mean just what I said."
"You mean that she *hacked* into Heaven?"
"Essentially, yes. That BITCH bypassed *all* of my security protocols, creating
enough bugs to keep Skuld busy for days, and to make matters worse, she did it with
*mortal* equipment! I expected to get into ROYAL trouble with Kami-sama! And then,
as if that wasn't enough, Kami-sama forbade me from taking any action against her!"
"Oh. So you want revenge."
"Damn straight, I do!"
"What did she do, anyway? What files did she look at?"
"Only one. Her father's. I managed to stop her before she got to the section on
'present location', though."
"Oh. Koujiku mentioned that she was obsessed with finding him."
"Oh, that's not all. A few years later, I was assigned to grant that BITCH a wish!
Think about it!"
"She met the qualifications?"
"Or so Kami-sama said, but... Arrrggggghhh."
"What did she wish for?"
"To know where her father was."
"That's not that bad."
"Oh, you might think so... except that her father was a Russian POW. The next day,
she hacked into Yggdrasil AGAIN and edited the files on his captors."
"Oh?"
"That... that..."
"What did she do?"
"She cursed them. In such a way that the curse would be removed if and only if they
released her father. Not even we could remove her curse. And Kami-sama STILL
wouldn't let me get revenge..."
"I see. What does that have to do with Ktharra oil?"
"What?!"
"Koujiku knew what Ktharra oil was. When I asked how, he said to ask you and to
say that he was an old friend of Allison's."
"Oh...," said Urd, sounding disappointed, "There was a cross-reference from one of
her father's captors' files to the file on Ktharra oil. She looked it up while she was in
Yggdrasil the second time. Kami-sama forbade me from doing anything about it, though.
Something about her 'being mature enough to handle the information, and to not tell
anyone who wasn't'. He even forbade me from going after anyone she told!"
"Koujiku's safe, then?"
"Yes, he would be, even if it wasn't for that order."
"What do you mean?"
"A few weeks ago, I tried to zap him with a lightning bolt. It didn't work."