Wish's End



Part 1: Graceless



OMG AU/Divergence Fanfic- you have been warned



by Tremor3258



Disclaimer: I don't own Oh My Goddess, if I did, I'd have arranged for a full theatrical release of the movie instead of having to wait until recently to buy the DVD.



Note: Original divergence: Skuld was recalled following her introductory arc, giving the Almighty the opportunity to pull a fast one on Belldandy and erase the Lord of Terror. The problem with the termination something seeking the, uh, termination of all creation? He was in Keiichi's body.





***********************



Yggdrasil, the computer that ran reality, technically wasn't one computer as much as it was many computers linked together, each one dealing with a solar system, or sometimes a planet in the case of systems with multiple sentient species, which required a larger workload to handle. The compartmentalization of Heaven made some newcomers wonder how the relatively small control room they were introduced to could handle all of the universe, but the truth was, it didn't. Instead, each small computer fed into a larger computer whose job was typically to run a dimension or two, finally up to the true core of Yggdrasil, whose sole function was the operation of the entire universe.



Obviously, the higher up one moved in the hierarchy, the more power one held in a single console in a control room. Earth's room could do some minor damage to the local universe if you screwed around with it, but that was it. The only reason it had been used as the war room against the Lord of Terror was the fact that unsealing the higher level control rooms took several hours and involved defense systems of such complexity they made Gungnir look like a water pistol.



The reason for this was simple. The 'root' Yggdrasil had as its domain the entire universe. Many of its functions could be farmed out to lesser systems without accessing those higher level powers which were dangerous even if you knew what they were doing. Keeping Yggdrasil's core in a low-level function mode was a good way to keep bugs from being attracted. The change of a single bit at Yggdrasil's core could cause an entire dimension to fold up and vanish from existence without a trace. Events classified as world-shaking wouldn't even get a laugh from the people whose job was to decide who got access to this room.



These thoughts, or minor variations on them, had been running steadily through Urd's head for the last few months. The fact that the new management had decided to open the room and begin cracking the passwords on the primary programs had led Urd to protest. As a result, the new management had shut Urd out of the system, cutting her off from the usual source of her powers, and reducing her to manifesting in a child's body if she could keep her power up high enough via her alternate recharge system.



Urd took another pull from her now ever-present bottle and looked at the central core of Yggdrasil. It was arranged quite a bit differently than the Earth control center, which fit current ideas of humanity's heaven with a bit of an angelic feel. The core of Yggdrasil was nothing more than a massive set of stops, pipes, and valves all seemingly hewn from a living tree. Until recent changes in administration, Urd had only gotten to see the control room once, during her training, with the caveat, "Pray that you never, ever, have to come into this room. But if you do, you'll need to know exactly what you're doing so PAY ATTENTION FOR ONCE!"



Now, however, the room was very busy, frighteningly so to an old administrator like Urd. Several of Heaven's special guardians, white child-like figures, hovered over the scene. Normally they'd be busy restraining whoever broke into the holiest of places, but now they hovered, limply and blankly. An offshoot of the Angel power-booster program, the Guardians looked a lot like the Christian angels, but they're method of behavior was strictly old-testament. However, they weren't technically alive or sentient, merely being very well-programmed, until someone had gone through Yggdrasil's files and wiped out their minds, and with them, heaven's police force.



"Someone should at least let them close their eyes," Urd slurred slightly as she trotted forward slightly unsteadily. It had taken months for her to work up the courage to agree with the plan. The minor infractions she piled up were Urd's response to a fairly stifling system in which both choices open to her from her heritage were relatively unpalatable. However, upon given a chance to make a real difference, she had fled upon hearing the amount of personnel risk involved.



It had been weeks before she could force herself to look directly in the mirror again. Urd had protested against the current regime, and her emblem protocols had been trashed as a result, cutting her power down to almost nothing and reducing her to a pathetic child from her once glorious splendor. "I guess when you take away your power, Urd doesn't have a lot left," Keiichi had once said in passing. As had once been normal, Keiichi had spotted the heart of the matter instantly. No special powers or insights, just raw mortal observation. It was definitely one of Keiichi's most special gifts, and one of the few that was visible if you weren't his girlfriend.



Urd shook herself. There were plenty of recriminations for everyone even if the plan worked perfectly. She did manage to restrain herself to one glance at a tall brown-haired goddess, rose-encrusted Angel coming from her back, an expression of utter betrayal on her face, permanently. The goddess was encased in a sheath of ice, and Urd had heard whispered theories that she was still conscious. Peorth had argued with opening the command core, and one quick shot was all it had taken to disable the first-class goddess. There had been little comment after that, unsurprisingly.



"Urd!" shouted Chrono, working with a device that looked like a hand-held loom, probably her PDA, "What are you doing here? This area is dangerous even if you're in good condition!" The younger goddess ran over. Unlike almost anyone else involved with Yggdrasil currently, she still wore her old purple uniform, in open defiance of the regulations for the new black uniforms.



Urd pushed the goddess out of the way. Urd wasn't sure why Chrono was working with the current management. She had seen the looks of loathing the girl had delivered to supervisors when she thought no one was looking. However, she was working on restructuring Heaven's security systems, a delicate project that had to go to someone trusted. If Nifelhelm, their opposite number, knew that the Guardians were down, Urd wouldn't put it past the other half of her heritage to try something.



That said, the last thing Urd needed was well-meaning help. What she wanted was a whole different barrel of sake. Urd focused for a minute. She needed to appear drunker than she actually was, and that was a task even someone who had tricked opponents in drinking games across the universe found difficult. Unable to prevent a slight apologetic glance, she shoved Chrono out of the way, sending her keypad skittering across the varnished floor as the goddess lost her balance and fell on her back.



"Hey! I used to run this damn thing, you know!" Urd proclaimed obnoxiously. Hands on her hips, and striking a proud pose, she would look threatening if she weren't three feet high. "If you're going through and pruning the system, you should have called upon the mighty knowledge of Urd!"



Even someone with Urd's strongly developed ego and showmanship (goddesship?) found her fire fade when she looked into the room. Several panels had been roughly ripped open, exposing their innards as two dozen or so various Powers worked on the system. The part of Urd's mind that wasn't swimming in alcohol noted grimly that she noted several actual axes deployed around the room. Tied up to the actual tree, oozing sap from several wounds and having a variety of extra probes connected to it, was a strong male figure with black hair. His eyes were blank and unseeing, and several cables were strung from his body under his robes to the various panels. An enormous amount of data seemed to be humming through the room. Completing the tableau were several of the somnolent Guardians, puppets with cut strings. The scene was almost perfectly arranged to shock, with the fallen Lord of Heaven and his attendants, struck dumb while smaller figures scampered over the great tree. Urd fell to her knees, trying not to vomit. The various figures turned to look at her.



"Urd," said a soft voice behind her. Urd didn't turn to look, trying to concentrate on her breathing. "Come on, Urd. You're in no shape to be here, or even to see this. The game your sister's doing is dangerous enough without causing more harm to the system." Urd flinched as if struck at that and turned around. She noted through the miasma of liquor and shock that Chrono was trying her best not to look into the room.



"Which sister?" asked Urd in confusion, starting to babble, "I mean Skuld's debugging hasn't been top notch lately."



Chrono's hands balled into fists, "I'm not going to cry," she thought to herself, "Urd's not the one you should direct your anger against. Besides, you've got someone to protect, and that means playing the damn game."



Chrono took a deep breath and said, "Come on, Urd. Let's get you home. You're in no shape to be out and about." It was that moment when things started to get interesting in the control room.





********************



Several minutes prior, a few white six-legged rabbit-like creatures scampered through a dark space, only a few apparent stars in the background. Oddly enough, they seemed to be walking on water. Out of the darkness, a hammer came down, wiping the bug from existence.



"I can't believe we actually made it here. I've never even seen it before," said Skuld in relief. Not many people came down here, and this area wasn't involved with actual processing. Still, it wasn't exactly open to the general public, and it had probably been a few years since it had been debugged, judging by the fact some of the vermin had made it down.



Another figure with slightly glowing eyes hovered over the water. Her voice was melodic and warmly pitched, "I told you I could crack the passwords. They're only placed there to keep low-level kids from messing with this area."



Skuld's temper flared for a moment at that, but she reined it under control after a moment, "So this is really it?" she asked for confirmation, trying to put as much doubt into her voice.



"Touche," commented her partner in crime. "Yes, this is Mimir's Well, Heaven's primary database area. Yggdrasil has its analysis software down here somewhere, and if there's a record in heaven, a copy will be kept here for anywhere in reality," she said, getting a little wistful. Skuld was busy digging through her robes for something, before coming up with something which probably had a flashlight somewhere in its distant ancestry, as it produced somewhere in the equivalent of the sun at noon in terms of raw lumens. "Warn me when you do that!" snapped her companion, covering her face with her hands in agony at the sudden brightness. "I'm not quite on your level, remember?"



"Sorry," Skuld said, a trace sheepish, though proud the Mr. Illuminate had succeeded on its trial run. She waited calmly for her companion to get readjusted, as she was just a bit fascinated with the creatures looks, as she was apparently related to the Earth realm, but didn't look nearly as humanoid as most of the people who hung around in heaven did. Primarily grey skin with a webbing of black lines across it, and though her body looked feminine, it also seemed almost as if she was wearing a body suit, with nothing really visible. Grey hair flowed down to shoulder length, and if you looked closely, her pupils were oddly cross-shaped. The most noticeable features on Morgan, though, were two small tresses of hair that formed into something resembling antenna, and her butterfly wings, though she usually kept the lower two tightly wrapped, and butterfly wing-like ears. She was very quiet concerning her past, but had displayed casual ease when it came to breaking into Mimir's medium-access areas.



Skuld's problem was that she was specifically sealed from access to the main databases, as her long experience with debugging made her easily at home among Yggdrasil at a level below the typical interfaces. If she could get into the system, there was quite a bit she could do, even with supposedly locked systems.



Skuld's goddess class registration was enough to get through most of the gates in their path, but that left traces. Skuld, instead, introduced Mr. Password Prompt to Miss Mallet. Since the seals manifested themselves as distortions in reality, they were quickly 'corrected' courtesy of Skuld, freelance debugger. Morgan floated behind, a bit amused at the problem solving approach of the far younger goddess, which took a lot less power than the decryption programs Morgan used. Skuld continued on, occasionally whacking an access denial routine, as she followed the directions that she had laid out on a sheet of parchment in their little cabal's last pow-wow.



Their destination, however, was far more impressive. Rather than the usual calm, placid, dim waters, their destination was an actual well-structure, an impressive looking gazebo with a small fountain in it. This was a fairly handy metaphor to use for the data stream being constantly piped through. As impressive and peaceful-looking as the white, multi-level platform surrounding a small stone well was, the thick glowing shields enwrapping it lent an aura of menace as well as a slight hum to the air.



Skuld looked at her hammer in dismay, "Somehow I don't think this is going to quite be good enough."



Morgan shook her head, and let her lower set of wings uncurl. A series of small sparks hovered in the air as she spent a moment letting the power build up within her. "Your problem, Skuld, is you thing too much in terms of raw energy." A series of small green diamonds shot out from Morgan and surrounded the shield. For a moment, a shifting pattern of runes scurried across the surface before locking into a pattern, and the shield turned to vaporous fog for a moment. "After you," she said cheerily, though quickly, "Those shields are going to snap shut in about twenty seconds unless you work your little magic."



"Are you making fun of me?" Skuld demanded even as she rushed forward through the screen. Morgan watched her trot forward before looking at the gazebo with naked avarice in her eyes. Skuld rolled up her sleeves as she approached the fountain before plunging her hands into the data stream. Reality shivered and reformed around her. At this moment, Chrono was trying to escort the Goddess of the Past from the core Yggdrasil room. With ten seconds of Morgan's probable twenty remaining, Skuld said triumphantly, "Ha ha! They thought they could hide it from me? The Guardian programming just had one letter in its file name changed. They should be turning back on-line. The security system's in chaos! Now hurry up and get up there!" Skuld ordered.



Morgan bowed slightly and vanished in a flash of light. Such free-range teleportation didn't exist among deities, one of the main reasons she was involved with the project, despite the danger from her being very fragile emotionally. Right now, Morgan should have reappeared in the corridor leading to the primary control room. Skuld idly wondered what she would find.



*********************



Morgan had long dreamed of breaking through heaven's computer systems and making a few small but significant changes. In fact, she had devoted entire centuries to learning the ways around the little booby traps Heaven left around its computers. However, in her wildest dreams, she didn't expect to be breaking in quite like this.



In front of her, a teenage-looking goddess was paused, stricken at the sight through the open doors up ahead, while also holding up a drunken eight-year-old former systems administrator. Though Urd probably was far more sober than she had been a scant few seconds before.



Distracted by the Norn's performance, the black-suited 'higher authorities' who should have been working had stepped away from their consoles and slightly towards the entrance. No one noticed the overhead Guardians start to stir from their long inactivity. Golden staffs appeared in their hands and the child-sized, blue eyed avatars of Heaven's will moved in their mission to keep out unauthorized personnel. And no one in the room was showing any authorization.



Morgan had to admit to being cheered up by watching a group of Heavenly busybodies being frozen in their tracks, courtesy of little androgynous figures that looked like they came out of a children's book. Soon afterwards, the Guardians stopped limply again, and Morgan rushed into the chamber. Skuld had only managed to keep the Guardians active via direct divine intervention. If Skuld wasn't continuing changing the file, Yggdrasil would simply restore from local backup, as the archives weren't to manipulated directly. If you knew what you were doing and didn't mind setting off a lot of a alarms, you could get around it temporarily. Luckily, the Guardians had moved quickly, as Skuld seemed to have been thrown clear a few seconds early. Morgan flew down the corridor in a blur, past a stunned Chrono and Urd.



Morgan touched down before one of the consoles, and tried not to look at exactly who was tied up in front of her as she deftly manipulated the warp and weave of the loom-like interface. After a moment, the system beeped merrily, granting access. The security system was probably tied up into knots by lower-level administrators trying to track down what had happened with the Guardians. Assuming those administrators weren't icicles.



Morgan hated the time pressure she was under. It wouldn't take long for someone to check on the most holy of holy places and realize something was up with most of the staff locked in ice and a creature who technically wasn't even a Heavenly resident at the main control board. So, she couldn't do all of the downloads the group who had placed her in this position wanted, and Morgan hated to admit they had priority over what she wanted done. Plucking a partially ice-encrusted crystal away from the nearest victim, she placed it in a slot on the console as Yggdrasil found the files she wanted.



Chrono had finally found her voice, though most of her training for situations involving a hostile invasion were 'Call in the heavy hitters, and then duck under something solid until they finish'. Chrono made sure the stunned Urd was on her feet and she rushed forward, trying to remember combat-related spells.



Morgan heard the footsteps, of course, and quickly turned, keeping her hands out and relaxed, the magical equivalent of a loaded gun. Chrono paused at that, and Morgan winced at the girl's youth and the hesitation in her eyes. Morgan theorized it was because of the horns of a dilemma. Moving forward would bring immediate bodily harmed, probably followed by punishment in the next few ours. Moving backwards would be a bit more terminal, but slightly more distant in the future. Not the best of options.



After a moment, the girl's eyes rolled up in her skull and her body flopped bonelessly forward. Urd, now visible behind her, powerposed. "Fear my mighty sleep spell! Oh dear," finished Urd, managing to sound surprised and calm at the same time and she flopped forward and began to snore. Morgan shrugged, but didn't turn to watch the readouts as data continued to flow onto the cartridge. People ready to shoot first and ask questions if later convenient would be arriving soon.



The data download went on longer than the fae had expected before the computer system prompted for another cartridge, almost five seconds longer. Evidently some new advances in storage media had taken place. Morgan considered finishing the download, but when she looked carefully at the deity who she had removed the cartridge from, she noticed that his emblems were blinking softly. Cursing under her breath, Morgan paused for once last glance of amusement at Chrono and Urd before jumping into the air and vanishing from sight.



********************



Skuld stood shin-deep in the Well of Mimir, facing the shield around the gazebo with an impatient look. Morgan should be getting back soon. A slight whisper of wind teased at her hair for a moment, and Skuld didn't turn around as the goddess who just arrived's melodic voice began to speak to her.



"Skuld," Belldandy began reproachfully, "You shouldn't be down here. It isn't like you to misbehave." Skuld turned around slowly and gulped. Holy Bell was out and looking reproachful, though Belldandy had her usual small smile. It was the one she used to wear when clearing obstacles from Keiichi's path in life.



"Just cleaning up problems," Skuld said cheerfully. It wasn't even really a lie, though Belldandy's eyes narrowed a bit. "You should have seen all the bugs down here, Big Sister!" Skuld continued. "It was like-"



"Skuld," Belldandy interrupted quietly. "I know that the Guardian program was just hacked into. No one comes down here any more. It's quite dangerous, even for a goddess, to be around some parts of Heaven without proper training. Come home where you'll be safe." Holy Bell nodded for emphasis.



"No, that's not really necessary. I mean, I'm still studying, and trying to get that Earth Training License so," Skuld cut off, but the damage was done. Belldandy looked angry now, a terrifying sight if one knew her well, and all of Heaven knew her far too well now. Her hair, white without the seal, hung loosely at her back, and she was wearing a night-black version of her old Goddess Relief uniform, still in mourning.



"Skuld," Belldandy said with angry concern, "Going to Earth is dangerous! You'll get hurt. Things in the current system just mean pain! You need to wait." Belldandy spent a moment thinking, and then announced happily, "You should come home with me, Skuld. You just need a little more time before I can let you out of the house."

"Belldandy, wait, don't!" she said urgently, but it was too late. Holy Bell gestured, and an icy wind surrounded Skuld as water rushed upward from the well to encase her.



Belldandy floated over and patted the ice affectionately. "You'll be safe now, sister. Soon everyone will be safe." With that, Belldandy grabbed the encased Skuld and used the reflective surface of the water to teleport away. For a few moments, Mimir's Well was silent, before a miniature version of Skuld broke the surface for air.



"I thought she'd never leave!" Chibi-Skuld looked around the dark area and shivered, "I'm glad I got this body-split spell out of Urd, though, and had a spare me ready. Now I just hope Morgan kept up her end of the deal."



********************



Belldandy was currently setting Skuld up in the Almighty's former quarters, near the platform built in the center of his meeting room. "Keiichi, I miss you so much," she moaned to herself slightly, "I'm so lost without you, and everyone keeps trying to keep us apart!" A few tears spilled near Skuld, who was set near most of the former Heavenly Council as well as most of the technicians who had been in the core when Skuld struck. None of them, or anyone else, raised any offer of protest.





To be continued....



Belldandy shows up. Why was no one mentioning her at the beginning? "Speak the devil's name, and he (or she) may just answer."



Yes, Belldandy's seal is broken, and she seems to have taken over Heaven more or less completely. I'll show more detail in the following chapters. Since Skuld spent the last year in heaven, I'm guessing she got a bit more magic instruction. As Skuld was literally in her element (in figurative and actual senses) in the Well, it shouldn't have been too hard for her to hide some mass.



Mimir's Well is guarded by the severed head of one of the wisest Norse gods, in their mythology. Odin lost his eye in order to drink from the well and learn Mimir's secrets, as the well contained great knowledge. The Norns (the three goddesses, Norse form) hung out near the well, as they used it to water Yggdrasil. Odin, incidentally later hung, dead, from Yggdrasil (tree version) for nine days in order to learn about death.



Since there is that black watery area shown in the OVAs, I thought I'd take some license, name it, and make it another part of Yggdrasil in accordance with the mythology.. After all, this way I got Skuld messing with the fountain's 'data' stream.



I also named those cute, child-like death-dealers from the movie the Guardians. You'll remember them as the group of winged figures that attempted to capture Celestine. There were quite a few of them, and I don't think they got names. Since the deities usually have a lot of individuality, I figured they were some sort of protection program. Since the Angels don't show up until later (well, in the OVA), I assume the Angels weren't quite approved for Earthside use yet in the early manga, despite how much help they would have provided in several instances.



Yes, I used Morgan. I liked her character in the movie a LOT, since I got the impression if Bell was separated from K1, she'd end up as distraught as Morgan. . Besides, Morgan cracked the prison of a God who was out to topple Heaven. A little thing like a database shouldn't be too difficult for her. Morgan's reasons for helping Heaven will be made a little clearer in the future.



I used Chrono for various reasons. She seemed the youngest of the three, so I guess Bell decided she was more 'usable' than the other two operators. Plus, it got me another movie cameo. ^_^



Next time:



More intrigue, and we may just figure out what Bell is up to besides spooking various supernatural figures.