"Cutting into the broad darkness, blowing aside tomorrow's evil, upon that
which calls wind to the earth.."
Skuld blinked as the Mandela lit up under Belldandy, a large sphere of light surrounded her. Belldandy looked around in surprise. She then snarled and fired off a force bolt at the sphere which absorbed the bolt.
'..with that light of hope, gather the past, present, a future, rescue us from the hands of evil and banish them back to darkness.."
Skuld, hearing the voice of her sister beside her, turned. Next to her stood Belldandy, floating just off the ground chanting. Skuld turned and looked back at the figure floating in the glowing sphere. She realized that if Belldandy was truly next to her, then the other must be.....
"Sayoko?!?!"
Sayoko snarled again and slammed her fist into the sphere. The sphere continued to hold her.
"...I order you...BEGONE!"
With a roar, a blinding sphere of light came down from the heavens and engulfed Sayoko. Sayoko's eyes opened wide as a heart rending scream passed through her lips.
Skuld opened her eyes and sat up in shock. She looked around her.
She was in Misato's house, sleeping in the bed that just the day before, Sayoko had slept in. Skuld rubbed her eyes.
"What kind of dream was that?" muttered Skuld.
Chapter 7
Skuld yawned as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Shinji and Asuka sat at the table eating breakfast. Skuld looked back in the living room. Seeing only Maho and the two computers, she looked back at the two guardians.
"Where is everyone?"
"Mizuho, Kei, and Ichigo went to school." said Asuka, "Rei went along with just in case the ship showed up. Unlikely, but possible."
"What about Onee-sama and Misato?"
"Misato is upstairs asleep." replied Shinji, "If she holds true to form, she won't be up till 10." Shinji glanced at Asuka, then back to Skuld. "Belldandy got called up to talk to him."
"Oh."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Kami-sama stared at the figure kneeling before him.
"You know that half the council is asking for your dismissal."
The figure stared down at the floor. "I know father."
Kami-sama sighed and turned his chair to look out the window over looking the heavens. Most of the battle damage had long since been repaired, but Kami-sama was still getting used to the new view from his office.
"Status of the Extraterrestrials?"
"She remains on the surface, as does her sister. There is no sign of the spacecraft."
"Do you believe she should leave the earth?"
Belldandy hesitated. "No, I believe she means no harm."
"But the harm is already done."
Belldandy remained silent.
"What is the word on my granddaughter?"
"She is still missing."
"And what of my Son-in-law? Does he know?"
"No Father."
Kami-sama turned his chair around and stared at Belldandy. "Why not? She is his daughter."
Belldandy continued to stare at the floor. "I was hoping we could find her within a day. The doctors say Keiichi shouldn't become excited, it's bad for his heart."
"I see. You will have to tell him though."
"I know." Belldandy said softly.
"As to your activating the Guardians....I must know why you did so."
"Misato called, saying that she thought Sayoko was in trouble. Skuld went right away. A hour later, Urd and I felt Skuld in distress." Belldandy finally looked up at Kami-sama. "I felt it was urgent enough to call on the Guardians."
"You felt?"
Belldandy stared at her father. "Skuld is my sister. We are linked no matter what the distance. And I felt that I made the right choice as the Goddess of the Present."
Kami-sama nodded. "Very well. I will accept your reason. For now, the extra- terrestrials may stay. The Guardians will fall under your command." Belldandy looked at him in surprise. "I will decide later if they will remain under you as such. You may return to the surface."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Kei sat tired and bored at his desk. Across the room, Ichigo looked equally tired. They had spent the night uncomfortably on the floor at Mrs. Ryoji's house, incase the demons went after them. There was still no word on where the ship had flown off to. Kei tried to put the previous nights events out of his mind, but unfortunately, it was all for naught.
"Dude!" shouted Hyosuke, "I saw it!! I saw it!!"
"The UFO?" asked Matagu, "I saw it too! I thought we'd seen the last of it. But it's back!"
"Hey Kei! Did you see the UFO?!?"
Kei sighed and placed his head on his desk.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Misato shuffled down the stairs. She walked past blurry shapes, focusing only on her goal: the Beer fridge. She opened the door and pulled out a can. She downed it in one gulp.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!" Her bellowed echoed throughout the house.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF KAMI-SAMA WAS THAT?!?!" came a female voice from the living room.
"..Misato's beer cheer." came another female voice, "Geez Skuld...cut back on the caffeine a little."
"That's the beer cheer?" replied Skuld, "I thought someone was dying!"
"Only a beer." came a male voice, "She sucked the life right out of it."
Misato sighed and leaned against the fridge.
"And here I thought having Asuka and Shinji back in the house was a good thing...."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Ceres extracted herself from the excess tube and slammed the hatch shut.
"Well?"
Ceres looked up to see Proserpine looking at her. Proserpine was still possessing the Alien female and as of yet had no intention of releasing her. Ceres stood up and glared at her demon comrade.
"Well what?"
Proserpine glared at her. "Is it repaired?"
"We've got almost a dozen holes in the hull....half the primary systems down....three quarters of the ship sealed off because of the hull breaches....the lights are barely working...." Ceres sighed, "And it smells in here."
"Does it work?"
"Yes." muttered Ceres, "The weapons work. But they'll only give you a couple of shots before they'll fail again."
"That's not good. I want them at 100%."
"Look," snarled Ceres, "I'm a Demon 1st class! I deal with misery and destruction! Not spacecraft repairs!"
"Well when you fix the weapons you'll have all the destruction you want. Now get back to work!" Proserpine turned around and walked back towards the cockpit. "Fix the rest of the primary system also. Oh.." Proserpine turned and glanced back at Ceres. "See if you can get rid of that smell." The hatch closing cut off Ceres' reply.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
"Peorth."
Peorth looked up from the SysOp screen to see Belldandy walking towards her.
"Oh Hi Bell." said Peorth, "Where's your sister? She's on shift in a couple of minutes."
"She's watching Keiichi for me." Belldandy stepped up onto the SysOp platform. "I need a favor."
"What?"
"System search for Sayoko."
Peorth looked down at the Operators. "Erie!"
"Yes ma'am?"
"Run a scan for Sayoko, Goddess Class 1."
"Yes Ma'am."
The main screen lit up and images of the earth began to flash across the screen.
"Expand your search." said Belldandy, "Her last known location was where that extra-terrestrial craft was."
"Yes Milady."
Peorth smiled as she heard Belldandy sigh. "Still not used to it?"
"No." muttered Belldandy, "And I doubt I ever will."
Peorth smiled and looked at the screen.
"Your assistant was in here a bit ago looking for you."
Belldandy glanced at Peorth. "She was?"
"Yep." Peorth's smile got bigger, "She was looking for her Sempai."
Belldandy groaned.
"What she's not that bad. Just very enthusiastic. And I think it's cute. She absolutely adores you."
Belldandy rubbed her forehead. "Who's idea was it to pair a Trainee with an experienced Goddess?"
"Yours." replied Peorth, "Why is she calling you Sempai anyway?"
"Because I asked her not to call me 'Milady'."
"Oh."
"SEMPAI!"
Belldandy and Peorth turned to see a very excited teenaged goddess with light purple hair running up to them. She skidded to a stop just in front of the SysOp platform. Peorth snickered while Belldandy smiled and looked at her assistant.
"Yes Cayla? What is it?"
"Lady Urd called and requests your presence at your home on the surface world."
"Alright. Anything else?"
"There's a bunch of paper work in your office waiting for your approval." replied Cayla, "There are also several requests by those in the Norse District regarding various things."
Belldandy held up her hand. "Is anything there that could bring Yggdrasil to a halt, or bring the heavens to its knees?"
Cayla frowned slightly, "No..."
"Then it can wait."
"But.."
"Ma'am?"
Peorth glanced over at Erie. "You find her?"
"No..it's...confusing."
Peorth frowned and looked at the main screen, as did Belldandy. The images had finally frozen, and a large red dot covering most of the earth blinked at them.
"Alright Erie, what are we looking at?"
"According to Yggdrasil....The location of the Goddess Sayoko."
"My daughter is not that big." Belldandy said, "How could she be all over the earth?"
"She's not." Erie replied. She then looked at Peorth. "Ma'am I think we are being jammed."
Peorth's frown got bigger. "Jammed?"
"Yes Ma'am. It's possible that her proximity to a demon is interfering with her signal, preventing us from locking on to her."
Belldandy sighed. "Very well. Thank you for trying."
"There's something else...."
"What?"
Erie entered several commands on her console. The main screen changed to show a series of numbers, several of which kept changing.
"This is Sayoko's connection to Yggdrasil. You see the flicking numbers?"
"That's her power level." said Peorth.
"Yes Ma'am. Her power level is in a constant state of fluctuation."
"What's causing the fluctuations? Is she using her powers?"
"No Ma'am. According to this, she's only receiving a quarter of the energy. The rest is being bled off somewhere else or completely blocked."
Peorth glanced at Belldandy who seemed very close to tears. She then looked back at Erie.
"Try to localize her signal as best you can."
"Yes Ma'am."
"Cayla."
"Yes Lady Peorth?"
"Take Belldandy back to the surface."
"Yes Milady."
"No." said Belldandy quietly, "I can find my own way."
Belldandy turned and left the control room, her robes swirling behind her.
"Cayla."
Cayla turned and looked back at Peorth.
"I would like a word with you for a moment."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Skuld stared at Miruru closely, then turned and looked at Sayoko's laptop. She had taken it from Sayoko's room and hooked Miruru to it. On the screen line after line of data flew past, faster then Maho could read it. Only Marie seemed to understand the data as it continued to scroll up. Skuld glanced over at Marie.
"Well? How did that work?"
"Noh! Noooooh!"
"Oh."
Skuld turned back to the computer and began to rapidly type. In the kitchen, Misato, Asuka, and Shinji watched in silence. Finally Misato spoke.
"I've heard him for the past year, and I still don't understand a word he says. And Skuld's carrying on a conversation like it's nothing."
"She's a goddess." replied Asuka, "That's why."
Misato leaned on the table. "Can you understand him?"
"Well..yeah..."
"Thought so." Misato sipped her beer. "So where's Touji?"
"Still in Tokyo-2." replied Shinji, "He and Hikari do have kids you know."
"Yeah, I know." said Misato quietly, "How are they?"
"Well they should meet their Auntie Misato at some point." said Asuka smile.
"Me? An Aunt? When did that happen?"
"Hikari was showing Kirika and Mereille some pictures from when we first moved to Tokyo-2." said Asuka, "Kirika pointed at a picture of you and ask who you were. After Hikari told her, she immediately wanted to know when Auntie Misato was coming to visit her."
"Great....Well at least Taro hasn't called yet and said I'm a grandmother. Until that happens, I guess being an Aunt isn't that bad."
Shinji smiled, "Plus you're in an exclusive club."
"Eh?"
"Well according to Kirika, Asuka, Rei, Sayoko, Urd, Skuld, Belldandy, Megumi, even Peorth are her Aunts."
"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The three turned and looked back in the living room to see Miruru on it's feet. Marie was dancing about next to Miruru appearing to be very happy.
"Miruru! Diagnostic Check!" order Maho.
"Meee!"
Maho looked at Skuld.
"You fixed her! Thank you!"
Skuld smiled at Maho, then turned to Miruru.
"Ok Miruru, Can you connect to your spaceship?"
"Meee!"
"Where is it?"
"Meee!" Miruru turned towards the laptop. The screen changed rapidly, showing maps and diagrams. Suddenly it froze on a map, with a highlighted area. Skuld glanced over at Asuka and Shinji.
"Looks like it's time to get Rei and Touji."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Belldandy stepped out of the mirror into the living room of the apartment that she, Keiichi, Skuld and Sayoko, lived in. She was immediately met by Urd.
"There you are! I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past hour. I have to get up to Yggdrasil before Peorth explodes."
"Peorth knows you're here." Belldandy said, "I need you for a bit longer."
"What for?"
"I'm going to tell Keiichi about Sayoko."
Urd frowned. "Is that a good Idea? I mean...his heart..."
"Will be just as hurt if he finds out I didn't tell him." Belldandy said softly. "I have to tell him."
"Alright. He's in your room."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Belldandy opened the door to her and Keiichi's room.
"K?" she called out quietly.
"Hmm?" Keiichi rolled over and looked at his wife. Life had been hard on him. Within 3 years of being rescued from the Eva core, Keiichi had developed a illness. It soon became apparent that Keiichi's body was trying to readjust to life outside the Eva, restoring itself to his proper age. Thus Keiichi aged almost 16 years within the span of 3 weeks. His body couldn't handle it. Now, though he was only 62 years old, because of the illness, he felt and acted more like 80.
"K, we have to talk." said Belldandy.
"About what?"
"Sayoko."
Keiichi sat up. "What's wrong?! What happened?!"
Belldandy rushed over to his side and gentle pushed him back down to the bed.
"Easy K. Remember what the doctor said."
"To hell with the doctor! What's wrong with our daughter?!"
Belldandy looked into Keiichi's eyes.
"Please K, calm down."
Keiichi closed his eyes and sighed.
"Alright. What happened?"
"Sayoko's missing." Belldandy pressed a finger over Keiichi's lips before he could respond. "She apparently was taken by demons, the same demons that that stole a spaceship."
Keiichi frowned. "They stole the space shuttle?"
"No. They stole what you would refer to as a UFO."
Keiichi blinked. "Are you saying our daughter was abducted by aliens?"
"No.she was abducted by demons posing as aliens."
"You have no idea how weird that sounds." Keiichi then smiled at Belldandy, "But I suppose I'm used to it now. So what's being done about finding her?"
"Erie is scanning for her using Yggdrasil, and Skuld is working with the extra-terrestrials to find the ship."
Keiichi leaned back and closed his eyes. "And when we find the ship?"
"Asuka, Shinji, Rei, and Touji go and rescue Sayoko."
The door to their room swung open quickly. Both turned to see Urd.
"Skuld just called. They found the ship."
Skuld blinked as the Mandela lit up under Belldandy, a large sphere of light surrounded her. Belldandy looked around in surprise. She then snarled and fired off a force bolt at the sphere which absorbed the bolt.
'..with that light of hope, gather the past, present, a future, rescue us from the hands of evil and banish them back to darkness.."
Skuld, hearing the voice of her sister beside her, turned. Next to her stood Belldandy, floating just off the ground chanting. Skuld turned and looked back at the figure floating in the glowing sphere. She realized that if Belldandy was truly next to her, then the other must be.....
"Sayoko?!?!"
Sayoko snarled again and slammed her fist into the sphere. The sphere continued to hold her.
"...I order you...BEGONE!"
With a roar, a blinding sphere of light came down from the heavens and engulfed Sayoko. Sayoko's eyes opened wide as a heart rending scream passed through her lips.
Skuld opened her eyes and sat up in shock. She looked around her.
She was in Misato's house, sleeping in the bed that just the day before, Sayoko had slept in. Skuld rubbed her eyes.
"What kind of dream was that?" muttered Skuld.
Chapter 7
Skuld yawned as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Shinji and Asuka sat at the table eating breakfast. Skuld looked back in the living room. Seeing only Maho and the two computers, she looked back at the two guardians.
"Where is everyone?"
"Mizuho, Kei, and Ichigo went to school." said Asuka, "Rei went along with just in case the ship showed up. Unlikely, but possible."
"What about Onee-sama and Misato?"
"Misato is upstairs asleep." replied Shinji, "If she holds true to form, she won't be up till 10." Shinji glanced at Asuka, then back to Skuld. "Belldandy got called up to talk to him."
"Oh."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Kami-sama stared at the figure kneeling before him.
"You know that half the council is asking for your dismissal."
The figure stared down at the floor. "I know father."
Kami-sama sighed and turned his chair to look out the window over looking the heavens. Most of the battle damage had long since been repaired, but Kami-sama was still getting used to the new view from his office.
"Status of the Extraterrestrials?"
"She remains on the surface, as does her sister. There is no sign of the spacecraft."
"Do you believe she should leave the earth?"
Belldandy hesitated. "No, I believe she means no harm."
"But the harm is already done."
Belldandy remained silent.
"What is the word on my granddaughter?"
"She is still missing."
"And what of my Son-in-law? Does he know?"
"No Father."
Kami-sama turned his chair around and stared at Belldandy. "Why not? She is his daughter."
Belldandy continued to stare at the floor. "I was hoping we could find her within a day. The doctors say Keiichi shouldn't become excited, it's bad for his heart."
"I see. You will have to tell him though."
"I know." Belldandy said softly.
"As to your activating the Guardians....I must know why you did so."
"Misato called, saying that she thought Sayoko was in trouble. Skuld went right away. A hour later, Urd and I felt Skuld in distress." Belldandy finally looked up at Kami-sama. "I felt it was urgent enough to call on the Guardians."
"You felt?"
Belldandy stared at her father. "Skuld is my sister. We are linked no matter what the distance. And I felt that I made the right choice as the Goddess of the Present."
Kami-sama nodded. "Very well. I will accept your reason. For now, the extra- terrestrials may stay. The Guardians will fall under your command." Belldandy looked at him in surprise. "I will decide later if they will remain under you as such. You may return to the surface."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Kei sat tired and bored at his desk. Across the room, Ichigo looked equally tired. They had spent the night uncomfortably on the floor at Mrs. Ryoji's house, incase the demons went after them. There was still no word on where the ship had flown off to. Kei tried to put the previous nights events out of his mind, but unfortunately, it was all for naught.
"Dude!" shouted Hyosuke, "I saw it!! I saw it!!"
"The UFO?" asked Matagu, "I saw it too! I thought we'd seen the last of it. But it's back!"
"Hey Kei! Did you see the UFO?!?"
Kei sighed and placed his head on his desk.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Misato shuffled down the stairs. She walked past blurry shapes, focusing only on her goal: the Beer fridge. She opened the door and pulled out a can. She downed it in one gulp.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!" Her bellowed echoed throughout the house.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF KAMI-SAMA WAS THAT?!?!" came a female voice from the living room.
"..Misato's beer cheer." came another female voice, "Geez Skuld...cut back on the caffeine a little."
"That's the beer cheer?" replied Skuld, "I thought someone was dying!"
"Only a beer." came a male voice, "She sucked the life right out of it."
Misato sighed and leaned against the fridge.
"And here I thought having Asuka and Shinji back in the house was a good thing...."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Ceres extracted herself from the excess tube and slammed the hatch shut.
"Well?"
Ceres looked up to see Proserpine looking at her. Proserpine was still possessing the Alien female and as of yet had no intention of releasing her. Ceres stood up and glared at her demon comrade.
"Well what?"
Proserpine glared at her. "Is it repaired?"
"We've got almost a dozen holes in the hull....half the primary systems down....three quarters of the ship sealed off because of the hull breaches....the lights are barely working...." Ceres sighed, "And it smells in here."
"Does it work?"
"Yes." muttered Ceres, "The weapons work. But they'll only give you a couple of shots before they'll fail again."
"That's not good. I want them at 100%."
"Look," snarled Ceres, "I'm a Demon 1st class! I deal with misery and destruction! Not spacecraft repairs!"
"Well when you fix the weapons you'll have all the destruction you want. Now get back to work!" Proserpine turned around and walked back towards the cockpit. "Fix the rest of the primary system also. Oh.." Proserpine turned and glanced back at Ceres. "See if you can get rid of that smell." The hatch closing cut off Ceres' reply.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
"Peorth."
Peorth looked up from the SysOp screen to see Belldandy walking towards her.
"Oh Hi Bell." said Peorth, "Where's your sister? She's on shift in a couple of minutes."
"She's watching Keiichi for me." Belldandy stepped up onto the SysOp platform. "I need a favor."
"What?"
"System search for Sayoko."
Peorth looked down at the Operators. "Erie!"
"Yes ma'am?"
"Run a scan for Sayoko, Goddess Class 1."
"Yes Ma'am."
The main screen lit up and images of the earth began to flash across the screen.
"Expand your search." said Belldandy, "Her last known location was where that extra-terrestrial craft was."
"Yes Milady."
Peorth smiled as she heard Belldandy sigh. "Still not used to it?"
"No." muttered Belldandy, "And I doubt I ever will."
Peorth smiled and looked at the screen.
"Your assistant was in here a bit ago looking for you."
Belldandy glanced at Peorth. "She was?"
"Yep." Peorth's smile got bigger, "She was looking for her Sempai."
Belldandy groaned.
"What she's not that bad. Just very enthusiastic. And I think it's cute. She absolutely adores you."
Belldandy rubbed her forehead. "Who's idea was it to pair a Trainee with an experienced Goddess?"
"Yours." replied Peorth, "Why is she calling you Sempai anyway?"
"Because I asked her not to call me 'Milady'."
"Oh."
"SEMPAI!"
Belldandy and Peorth turned to see a very excited teenaged goddess with light purple hair running up to them. She skidded to a stop just in front of the SysOp platform. Peorth snickered while Belldandy smiled and looked at her assistant.
"Yes Cayla? What is it?"
"Lady Urd called and requests your presence at your home on the surface world."
"Alright. Anything else?"
"There's a bunch of paper work in your office waiting for your approval." replied Cayla, "There are also several requests by those in the Norse District regarding various things."
Belldandy held up her hand. "Is anything there that could bring Yggdrasil to a halt, or bring the heavens to its knees?"
Cayla frowned slightly, "No..."
"Then it can wait."
"But.."
"Ma'am?"
Peorth glanced over at Erie. "You find her?"
"No..it's...confusing."
Peorth frowned and looked at the main screen, as did Belldandy. The images had finally frozen, and a large red dot covering most of the earth blinked at them.
"Alright Erie, what are we looking at?"
"According to Yggdrasil....The location of the Goddess Sayoko."
"My daughter is not that big." Belldandy said, "How could she be all over the earth?"
"She's not." Erie replied. She then looked at Peorth. "Ma'am I think we are being jammed."
Peorth's frown got bigger. "Jammed?"
"Yes Ma'am. It's possible that her proximity to a demon is interfering with her signal, preventing us from locking on to her."
Belldandy sighed. "Very well. Thank you for trying."
"There's something else...."
"What?"
Erie entered several commands on her console. The main screen changed to show a series of numbers, several of which kept changing.
"This is Sayoko's connection to Yggdrasil. You see the flicking numbers?"
"That's her power level." said Peorth.
"Yes Ma'am. Her power level is in a constant state of fluctuation."
"What's causing the fluctuations? Is she using her powers?"
"No Ma'am. According to this, she's only receiving a quarter of the energy. The rest is being bled off somewhere else or completely blocked."
Peorth glanced at Belldandy who seemed very close to tears. She then looked back at Erie.
"Try to localize her signal as best you can."
"Yes Ma'am."
"Cayla."
"Yes Lady Peorth?"
"Take Belldandy back to the surface."
"Yes Milady."
"No." said Belldandy quietly, "I can find my own way."
Belldandy turned and left the control room, her robes swirling behind her.
"Cayla."
Cayla turned and looked back at Peorth.
"I would like a word with you for a moment."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Skuld stared at Miruru closely, then turned and looked at Sayoko's laptop. She had taken it from Sayoko's room and hooked Miruru to it. On the screen line after line of data flew past, faster then Maho could read it. Only Marie seemed to understand the data as it continued to scroll up. Skuld glanced over at Marie.
"Well? How did that work?"
"Noh! Noooooh!"
"Oh."
Skuld turned back to the computer and began to rapidly type. In the kitchen, Misato, Asuka, and Shinji watched in silence. Finally Misato spoke.
"I've heard him for the past year, and I still don't understand a word he says. And Skuld's carrying on a conversation like it's nothing."
"She's a goddess." replied Asuka, "That's why."
Misato leaned on the table. "Can you understand him?"
"Well..yeah..."
"Thought so." Misato sipped her beer. "So where's Touji?"
"Still in Tokyo-2." replied Shinji, "He and Hikari do have kids you know."
"Yeah, I know." said Misato quietly, "How are they?"
"Well they should meet their Auntie Misato at some point." said Asuka smile.
"Me? An Aunt? When did that happen?"
"Hikari was showing Kirika and Mereille some pictures from when we first moved to Tokyo-2." said Asuka, "Kirika pointed at a picture of you and ask who you were. After Hikari told her, she immediately wanted to know when Auntie Misato was coming to visit her."
"Great....Well at least Taro hasn't called yet and said I'm a grandmother. Until that happens, I guess being an Aunt isn't that bad."
Shinji smiled, "Plus you're in an exclusive club."
"Eh?"
"Well according to Kirika, Asuka, Rei, Sayoko, Urd, Skuld, Belldandy, Megumi, even Peorth are her Aunts."
"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The three turned and looked back in the living room to see Miruru on it's feet. Marie was dancing about next to Miruru appearing to be very happy.
"Miruru! Diagnostic Check!" order Maho.
"Meee!"
Maho looked at Skuld.
"You fixed her! Thank you!"
Skuld smiled at Maho, then turned to Miruru.
"Ok Miruru, Can you connect to your spaceship?"
"Meee!"
"Where is it?"
"Meee!" Miruru turned towards the laptop. The screen changed rapidly, showing maps and diagrams. Suddenly it froze on a map, with a highlighted area. Skuld glanced over at Asuka and Shinji.
"Looks like it's time to get Rei and Touji."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Belldandy stepped out of the mirror into the living room of the apartment that she, Keiichi, Skuld and Sayoko, lived in. She was immediately met by Urd.
"There you are! I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past hour. I have to get up to Yggdrasil before Peorth explodes."
"Peorth knows you're here." Belldandy said, "I need you for a bit longer."
"What for?"
"I'm going to tell Keiichi about Sayoko."
Urd frowned. "Is that a good Idea? I mean...his heart..."
"Will be just as hurt if he finds out I didn't tell him." Belldandy said softly. "I have to tell him."
"Alright. He's in your room."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Belldandy opened the door to her and Keiichi's room.
"K?" she called out quietly.
"Hmm?" Keiichi rolled over and looked at his wife. Life had been hard on him. Within 3 years of being rescued from the Eva core, Keiichi had developed a illness. It soon became apparent that Keiichi's body was trying to readjust to life outside the Eva, restoring itself to his proper age. Thus Keiichi aged almost 16 years within the span of 3 weeks. His body couldn't handle it. Now, though he was only 62 years old, because of the illness, he felt and acted more like 80.
"K, we have to talk." said Belldandy.
"About what?"
"Sayoko."
Keiichi sat up. "What's wrong?! What happened?!"
Belldandy rushed over to his side and gentle pushed him back down to the bed.
"Easy K. Remember what the doctor said."
"To hell with the doctor! What's wrong with our daughter?!"
Belldandy looked into Keiichi's eyes.
"Please K, calm down."
Keiichi closed his eyes and sighed.
"Alright. What happened?"
"Sayoko's missing." Belldandy pressed a finger over Keiichi's lips before he could respond. "She apparently was taken by demons, the same demons that that stole a spaceship."
Keiichi frowned. "They stole the space shuttle?"
"No. They stole what you would refer to as a UFO."
Keiichi blinked. "Are you saying our daughter was abducted by aliens?"
"No.she was abducted by demons posing as aliens."
"You have no idea how weird that sounds." Keiichi then smiled at Belldandy, "But I suppose I'm used to it now. So what's being done about finding her?"
"Erie is scanning for her using Yggdrasil, and Skuld is working with the extra-terrestrials to find the ship."
Keiichi leaned back and closed his eyes. "And when we find the ship?"
"Asuka, Shinji, Rei, and Touji go and rescue Sayoko."
The door to their room swung open quickly. Both turned to see Urd.
"Skuld just called. They found the ship."