Conversations
Chapter 4
In an Office
*****
The sun was slanting toward the west as Washu made her way up the long stairs toward the shrine. She wondered if Lord Katsuhito would be too busy to see her this late in the day. Some of the things she had been sensing through her link with Ryoko were on her mind and she wanted to discuss them with a Juraian. She didn't think that Ayeka would know the answers and since it concerned the nature of Tsunami and the gods, talking to Sasami was out of the question. That left Katsuhito as the only other Juraian around. And as he was a priest, he was probably the best choice anyway. She knew that Tenchi would be done with his training and shrine duties this late in the day, so unless Katsuhito had other visitors he should have time to see her.
She reached the top of the stairs and crossed the small courtyard to the shrine office. Stopping at the door, she lightly knocked and quietly announced herself. Katsuhito opened the door.
"Washu. This is a pleasant surprise. You don't come up here very often. Won't you come in and have some tea?"
Washu entered the office and Katsuhito motioned here to a seat at the small table. He went to the sideboard and drew two cups of tea from the container he always kept there for visitors. He carried them to the table and sat down across from her.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Lady Washu?" he asked her.
She grinned at him. He was the only member of the family that could get away with not calling her "Little Washu".
"Lord Katsuhito, I've been sensing some… not really disturbing… but odd thoughts from Ryoko today. I've done a little research and came to you for clarification on a couple of things."
"Washu, I can't pretend to know what's on Ryoko's mind. I can make an educated guess though and say `Tenchi'." Katsuhito came back with a laugh.
"Well, there's always that," Washu smiled, "but this is something else. It has to do with gods, goddesses and demons. And I think the Ayeka-Tenchi-Ryoko triangle is about to resolve itself. In a… unique way."
"Do tell," said the old priest.
"I think I'll let it surprise you, or maybe you won't be surprised at that. Anyway," Washu continued, "did you know that we were recently visited by a goddess?"
Katsuhito smiled. "Why should that be odd? Tsunami lives here in Sasami after all."
"I'm not talking about our resident goddess. What do you know about the Norns of Norse mythology?"
"Not much off hand, I'm afraid," he responded. "I do have several books on Western Mythology that mention them though. Let me get one and we'll see what it has to say."
He stood up and walked to a cupboard against the wall. Opening it, he scanned the titles of the books that were stored there. Selecting one, he closed the cupboard and returned to the table.
"This is probably the best of the lot. It covers most ancient religions and has a very comprehensive section on the Norse gods."
He scanned through the book until he found the passage on the Norns. "Ah! Here we are. The Norns were three witches or goddesses, the book is unclear on that, who control men's fate and tend the great tree Yggdrasil. They were the direct daughters of Wotan or Odin as he's known, the father of gods. I guess that would make them goddesses then"
"And does the book mention their names?"
"Yes, it does. There is Skuld, who represents the future; Verdandi, who is in charge of the present; and Urd, who controls the past. I see however by the notes I made in the margin that `Verdandi' is too hard to pronounce with Japanese inflection so it has been corrupted, in Japan anyway, to `Belldandy'. Much easier on the tongue."
"Hmm. I already knew most of that. Interesting about the tree though. Really interesting… I wonder if there's a connection…"
"Washu, are you trying to tell me that one of the Norns was here?" Katsuhito interrupted her musing.
"Yeah. One appeared and talked to Ryoko for quite a while. A really pleasant conversation, it calmed Ryoko right down. She was grinning from ear-to-ear afterward. The Norn made some comments that are puzzling me though."
Katsuhito was startled. A Norn? Here? "Do you happen to know which one it was?"
"Yep. Urd."
Katsuhito groaned and put his head in his hands. "Oh gods. Not Urd."
"Yep. And she called Tsunami her cousin."
Katsuhito began to bang his head on the table.
"And as she left, she called Ryoko `cousin' as well. And implied she'd be back"
"WHAT!" Katsuhito's head came up.
"She said she'd be back sometime."
"No, not that part. The part about Ryoko being her `cousin'."
"That's what she called her. I don't think that Ryoko realizes she said that yet. That's one of the things I wanted to ask you about. I understand how Tsunami can be her cousin; they're both higher dimensional beings. But I don't get the Ryoko comment. Ryoko's a bio-construct, not a higher dimensional being. I know, I made her out of my DNA."
"Washu, you should be asking Tsunami these questions."
"I can't. This subject apparently pertains to the `Destiny of Jurai" and Tsunami can't answer any questions about that. And you seem to know more about this Urd than you're letting on."
"Just rumors mostly," Katsuhito explained. "It seems an old shrine that was abandoned years ago was recently renovated. There's now a group of people living there. Among them are three sisters named Belldandy, Urd and Skuld. Hardly a coincidence it seems, eh? I didn't make the connection until just a few minutes ago. There are reports of strange happenings in that area as well. And usually the sister Urd is seen nearby during these occurrences."
"Are you saying that Urd is dangerous?"
"Washu, consider yourself and who we are living with. `Dangerous' is not necessarily a bad thing. We are all `dangerous' in our own way, and Urd may be a goddess after all."
"Oh. You're right. But why would she call Ryoko `cousin'?"
Katsuhito thought for a moment.
"Well, aside from Tenchi, Ryoko is probably the most powerful of us. And unlike Tenchi, her power is always manifested."
"Yes, I see. Urd probably sensed Ryoko's power as similar to her own."
"That's probably it," Katsuhito agreed. Not likely though, he thought to himself. If Urd called her `cousin', she meant it the same way she calls Tsunami cousin. I don't even want to think about the implications of that right now. I may have to take a little field trip and talk to Urd myself.
I don't believe that for a minute! Washu thought. But if he's satisfied with that explanation, I'll let it drop. For now.
"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about Washu?" Katsuhito asked after a few moments of silence.
"Yes, there is. Urd also told Ryoko that Tsunami has two sisters. I can't find any reference to them in any writings in my database. I was wondering if you might know anything?"
"Actually Washu, I do remember some ancient writings in the palace library. If I recall, the two sisters were never worshiped as Tsunami was and about 20 millennia ago all mention of them was dropped. As if they just… went away or something. I don't think their names were ever noted, just the fact that they existed."
"So, Tsunami does have or had siblings. I wonder what happened to them? We'll probably never know unless she tells us."
"Probably not." Katsuhito took a final sip of his now cold tea. Another question for Urd.
"Thank you, Lord Katsuhito." Washu said as she stood to leave. "I would like to say that you cleared up the mysteries, but instead you opened up a new batch of questions. I think I'll go back to my lab and dig a little deeper."
"You're welcome Washu. Any time you want to talk, you know where to find me. If you'll wait a minute, I'll lock up and walk back down to the house with you for a late dinner. I don't think anyone else will be visiting here today." He nodded toward the window and Washu could see that it was now quite dark outside.
"I would appreciate the company. Thank you."
*****
As they walked down the stairs together, Washu turned to the priest and said, "You know, you don't have to keep up the disguise when it's just me, Yosho. I can be discrete when I have to."
"How did you know?" Katsuhito asked calmly.
"I can sense the Jurai power flowing over your skin," Washu replied.
"Well, it's easier to keep it up than it is to drop it and redo it every time someone comes by. Besides I'm used to it after so many years. But I'll make you a deal. I'll lose my disguise if you promise to lose yours as well. Oh, don't give me that `I don't know what you mean' look Washu. Both Tenchi and Ayeka told me what happened that day on the bridge."
Washu smiled slyly. "I'll have to think about it and get back to you on that, OK?"
*****
Tsunami watched from under Funaho as the two disappeared down the stairs. Soon sister. Soon. she thought, then sighed. We all have our parts to play.
*****
To be continued
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