3.
Within the control hall of Yggdrasil, unfamiliar gods were at the helm. Dressed in white flowing robes and generally old-looking, these Elder Gods were now in command of the computer.
"Fides, we now have effective control over Yggdrasil," one of the Elder Gods reported.
"Good work, Cohors. Have there been any resistance?" Fides asked. He now sat on Peorth's chair, his eyes roving the monitors as he drank in the information.
"No, but there has been grumblings from the younger gods," Cohors smirked.
"Impudent children. To think that GOD has entrusted His Great Work to them instead of us."
"Speaking of children, we are having a little trouble with the code. It has changed dramatically since we last saw it."
"Obviously. At least they are trying to make an improvement."
Cohors shrugged. "Most of the recent advancements came from a young goddess named Skuld. Her code is quite useful, though still prone to bugs."
"I have heard of her. Another of GOD's mysteries. Why did he put someone so young in charge of Yggdrasil? At least the one called Peorth was more mature..." Fides trailed off as he remembered his brief encounter with the unexpectedly fiery goddess. "Well, maybe not that much," he added with a faint smile.
Cohors nodded in agreement. "We cannot let this go on any further, Fides. We must see through our mission while we still have the time."
"Patience, Cohors. Roma is heading down there as we speak. She will do her best."
"What do you mean, 'do her best'?" Cohors repeated dubiously. "Do you expect her to have difficulties?"
"Despite your belief that I am all-knowing, Cohors, I do not know everything. The coincidences leading up to this point is nothing short of staggering. I would not be surprised if our next card is a useless one."
"If you say so, Fides... It sounds like you're expecting someone to actually upset our careful planning," Cohors said uncertainly.
"Only time will tell, friend. But even if it is so, we will continue no matter what the cost. Now leave me, I have much to ponder."
"As you wish."
As Cohors disappeared from his view, Fides slumped in his chair. "Time... even gods are powerless against it..."
---
"Peorth!"
The Goddess of Forever ignored Keiichi's exclamation and pushed past him into his home, nearly causing him to fall. Peorth did not seem to see his plight and marched in rapid steps towards the interior.
Sighing, Keiichi closed the door. "Nice to meet you too," he muttered sarcastically as he followed her steps.
Peorth came to a complete stop when she found the rest of the Morisato household in the living room.
"-You-!" the goddess shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Matthew who was startled by the sudden intrusion. His hand was frozen over the Uno deck, on the verge of drawing several cards that was penalized on him.
In fact, everyone was surprised by Peorth's entrance.
Urd was frozen in mid-dance, standing on one feet and a Japanese fan on one hand. Skuld too was frozen, her mouth wide open in mid-laughter and tears beginning to spring from her eyes at Matthew's expense.
There was silence for a moment.
"Everyone, please drink your tea while it's hot," Belldandy said cheerfully. She carefully placed her tray of tea cups on the table and began distributing them.
The silence broken, everyone continued what they were doing. Matthew blinked and turned away from Peorth to draw his remaining cards, Urd continued her victory dance while Skuld laughed on.
"Are you guys listening to me?!" Peorth yelled in disbelief.
"Aw, pipe down Peorth. Can't you see we're a little busy here?" Urd drawled as she stopped her dance and began to sit back down for her turn.
"Hey, didja come here to return my shoujo manga?" Skuld asked as her laughter subsided.
"Oh my, Peorth! What a pleasant surprise! Let me get a cup of tea for you!" Belldandy gushed.
"This is no time for tea!" Peorth thundered, and everyone stopped what they were doing, including Keiichi who had just entered.
"Oh, but I have just made a fresh pot. It is very delicious," Belldandy replied earnestly, disrupting Peorth's impetus yet again.
"Ah, who is that?" Matthew discreetly asked Urd as he eyed his increased pile of cards.
"Hmm? She's Peorth."
"Another one of your sisters?"
Urd drew back in horror. "Peorth!? What in the blazes made you think that?"
"Well, she has those markings like all of you..."
"Er, that can be explained very easily. We're, ah, part of the same tribe," Urd sweated.
"Will you imbéciles listen to me?! This is all his fault!" Peorth said and pointed at Matthew, who silently mouthed 'Me?' in puzzlement.
"Yes, -you-! Have you-"
"No, I have not seen you before," Matthew hastily interrupted, presuming that the question Peorth was asking was in the lines of past meetings.
Peorth was taken aback, she meant to ask "Have you any idea what you caused?". For a moment she stood there as her mental cogs turned.
"How did you- no, that's not what I meant!" Peorth said, slapping her forehead in frustration.
"Peorth, here's your tea," Belldandy said, oblivious to her friend's anguish, while Urd and Skuld continued to badger Matthew in their game of Uno.
The sight of her fellow goddesses so blissfully ignorant of the unknown danger that Matthew represented infuriated Peorth. She angrily swiped the cup of tea from Belldandy and smashed it onto the floor.
The sound of the breaking cup shocked everyone.
Belldandy most of all. Her hands flew to her face. "Peorth..."
"Hey, why did you do that for!?" Urd demanded.
"Yeah! If you don't wanna drink just say so! How dare you waste my sister's tea!" Skuld added.
"You idiots," Peorth hissed. "Have you any idea what's happening to Yggdrasil right now?"
The three goddesses exchanged puzzled glances amongst themselves.
Keiichi stepped in to play the mediator. He was also worried about Matthew being exposed to Yggdrasil and the other aspects of the goddesses that should be kept hidden.
"Look, it seems that you four have a lot to discuss. Come on Matthew, let me show you the temple grounds," Keiichi volunteered.
Matthew shrugged, feeling immensely awkward. He found himself tongue-tied, so he merely got up and followed Keiichi, trying to ignore the accusing glare in Peorth's eyes as he walked past.
As soon as they were out in the compound, Matthew exhaled loudly.
"What the hell was that? Does this happen often?"
Keiichi laughed nervously. "Too much for comfort, I guess you can say that..."
"What's Yggdrasil?"
"It's, uh, their favorite plant. They get very attached to it," Keiichi said, wincing at the white lie.
---
The four goddesses now sat around the sole table in the Morisato living room. The three Norns stared at Peorth.
"Yggdrasil's in lockdown!?" Skuld exclaimed.
"Are you sure you're not pulling our legs?" Urd asked.
Peorth shot her a glare. "Do I even look like I'm joking here?"
"But... our links to Yggdrasil are still intact," Belldandy said.
"It's not a crash... no, it's worst than a crash..."
"Come on, what happened?" Urd asked impatiently.
"Yggdrasil is now in the hands of the Elder Gods. Judge Fides himself gave me the marching orders," Peorth answered grimly.
"Those old farts from the Justice Department!?" Urd yelled indignantly. "Why didn't you stop them?!"
Peorth's nostrils flared angrily. "I'd like to see -you- stand toe-to-toe with Judge Fides sometime!"
"You'll see it and more if any of them retirement home candidates ever show their wrinkled mugs here!" Urd seethed. The sheer anger in her voice stunned Peorth and Skuld. Belldandy had a sad look on her face.
"Why-" Peorth started to ask.
"Peorth," Belldandy interrupted and shook her head. "How did this happen?" she asked, changing the topic.
Peorth warily looked around to make sure that they were not being eavesdropped.
"This is what I know," she took a deep breath, "that the person known as Matthew is the cause of this."
"What!?" the three sisters chimed. Or rather, it was Urd and Skuld, while Belldandy went, "Oh my!"
---
Outside, Keiichi sat on the porch and watched as a depressed looking Matthew walked around kicking the dirt.
'What a change from the cool, confident guy when I first saw him,' Keiichi noted. Indeed, Matthew acted as if there was a general unease about him, pacing back and forth with his head bowed with thought.
"Matthew, is there something bothering you?" Keiichi finally asked.
"I don't know, Keiichi. Something is wrong... I don't know what but something is wrong."
Keiichi blinked. "Well, you've just been here for barely two hours. Maybe you haven't gotten used to it yet."
"No, that's not it," Matthew replied, "it's a nagging feeling I've had ever since I've seen Belldandy."
"Yeah, it's pretty weird how they all seem to know you," Keiichi said, remembering the initial impressions that the American made on the goddesses.
"That's not all. Hell, I don't even remember why I'm in Japan in the first place! I'm supposed to be visiting Korea, but I end up buying a ticket to Japan!" Matthew threw up his hands.
Before Keiichi could comment on anything, Matthew ranted on: "And today's accident! I can't believe I was so easily distracted! It never happened to me before. I -never- had an accident before today. It's unbelievable. It seems that I have bad luck the moment I stepped a foot onto Japan."
"It has to happen sometime. But you won't have bad luck as long as you're with us, Matthew," Keiichi said firmly. 'As long as Belldandy is here to help, that is,' Keiichi mentally added.
Matthew hung his head. "Look, I'm sorry... you guys took me in so readily, and I shouldn't have said that."
"Please, don't worry about it."
"But I am! All the strange coincidences leading up to this point... I didn't tell you this before, but my heart went babump when I first saw your girlfriend and her sisters."
Keiichi chuckled. "They have that effect on guys, it's normal. Especially Urd."
"What? No, well, I can see what you mean, but I didn't mean -that-. My experience wasn't nearly as pleasant. I thought I had suffered a stroke!" Matthew explained.
"Well, that's a first," Keiichi muttered.
Matthew sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Look, this isn't going anywhere. I'm just going to chalk it up to stress."
Keiichi mentally breathed a sigh a relief. He mustered a weak smile. "Yeah, stress can do weird things to you."
When Matthew didn't respond, Keiichi frowned. He looked at the silent American, who was apparently dumbstruck and staring up into the sky. In reflex, Keiichi craned his neck to see for himself.
From the heavens, a slim tower of light burst forth and struck the temple compounds. Runic inscriptions began to appear on the ground where it landed, crackling with blue lightning and thruming with magical power.
Keiichi's mind scrambled as he remembered seeing it. It was the same phenomenon that had threatened to take Belldandy away from him. A Heaven's Gate...
But this time, no one was going up. Rather, somebody was coming down.
Keiichi and Matthew stared as a figure slowly floated down the pillar of light, finally landing a few inches off the ground. She was a middle-aged woman, her hair richly white and tied back in a single pony-tail. Her blue eyes still twinkled with vigour, despite the grandmotherly look on her face. A star-like rune was on her forehead.
Stunned by her unworldly appearance, Keiichi and Matthew could only stay rooted to where they were as the robed woman approached closer.
"After all this time... I finally found you."
-tbc-
----
Thankees
RudyHenkel: Thanks for the encouragement. Hopefully my ideas are different from yours, so that you can write your own O!MG story as well. Good luck!
(): Thanks! Maybe I'll even get your name next time ^_^
---
Notes:
Cohors = Latin for "General's Bodyguard"
-eof-
Within the control hall of Yggdrasil, unfamiliar gods were at the helm. Dressed in white flowing robes and generally old-looking, these Elder Gods were now in command of the computer.
"Fides, we now have effective control over Yggdrasil," one of the Elder Gods reported.
"Good work, Cohors. Have there been any resistance?" Fides asked. He now sat on Peorth's chair, his eyes roving the monitors as he drank in the information.
"No, but there has been grumblings from the younger gods," Cohors smirked.
"Impudent children. To think that GOD has entrusted His Great Work to them instead of us."
"Speaking of children, we are having a little trouble with the code. It has changed dramatically since we last saw it."
"Obviously. At least they are trying to make an improvement."
Cohors shrugged. "Most of the recent advancements came from a young goddess named Skuld. Her code is quite useful, though still prone to bugs."
"I have heard of her. Another of GOD's mysteries. Why did he put someone so young in charge of Yggdrasil? At least the one called Peorth was more mature..." Fides trailed off as he remembered his brief encounter with the unexpectedly fiery goddess. "Well, maybe not that much," he added with a faint smile.
Cohors nodded in agreement. "We cannot let this go on any further, Fides. We must see through our mission while we still have the time."
"Patience, Cohors. Roma is heading down there as we speak. She will do her best."
"What do you mean, 'do her best'?" Cohors repeated dubiously. "Do you expect her to have difficulties?"
"Despite your belief that I am all-knowing, Cohors, I do not know everything. The coincidences leading up to this point is nothing short of staggering. I would not be surprised if our next card is a useless one."
"If you say so, Fides... It sounds like you're expecting someone to actually upset our careful planning," Cohors said uncertainly.
"Only time will tell, friend. But even if it is so, we will continue no matter what the cost. Now leave me, I have much to ponder."
"As you wish."
As Cohors disappeared from his view, Fides slumped in his chair. "Time... even gods are powerless against it..."
---
"Peorth!"
The Goddess of Forever ignored Keiichi's exclamation and pushed past him into his home, nearly causing him to fall. Peorth did not seem to see his plight and marched in rapid steps towards the interior.
Sighing, Keiichi closed the door. "Nice to meet you too," he muttered sarcastically as he followed her steps.
Peorth came to a complete stop when she found the rest of the Morisato household in the living room.
"-You-!" the goddess shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Matthew who was startled by the sudden intrusion. His hand was frozen over the Uno deck, on the verge of drawing several cards that was penalized on him.
In fact, everyone was surprised by Peorth's entrance.
Urd was frozen in mid-dance, standing on one feet and a Japanese fan on one hand. Skuld too was frozen, her mouth wide open in mid-laughter and tears beginning to spring from her eyes at Matthew's expense.
There was silence for a moment.
"Everyone, please drink your tea while it's hot," Belldandy said cheerfully. She carefully placed her tray of tea cups on the table and began distributing them.
The silence broken, everyone continued what they were doing. Matthew blinked and turned away from Peorth to draw his remaining cards, Urd continued her victory dance while Skuld laughed on.
"Are you guys listening to me?!" Peorth yelled in disbelief.
"Aw, pipe down Peorth. Can't you see we're a little busy here?" Urd drawled as she stopped her dance and began to sit back down for her turn.
"Hey, didja come here to return my shoujo manga?" Skuld asked as her laughter subsided.
"Oh my, Peorth! What a pleasant surprise! Let me get a cup of tea for you!" Belldandy gushed.
"This is no time for tea!" Peorth thundered, and everyone stopped what they were doing, including Keiichi who had just entered.
"Oh, but I have just made a fresh pot. It is very delicious," Belldandy replied earnestly, disrupting Peorth's impetus yet again.
"Ah, who is that?" Matthew discreetly asked Urd as he eyed his increased pile of cards.
"Hmm? She's Peorth."
"Another one of your sisters?"
Urd drew back in horror. "Peorth!? What in the blazes made you think that?"
"Well, she has those markings like all of you..."
"Er, that can be explained very easily. We're, ah, part of the same tribe," Urd sweated.
"Will you imbéciles listen to me?! This is all his fault!" Peorth said and pointed at Matthew, who silently mouthed 'Me?' in puzzlement.
"Yes, -you-! Have you-"
"No, I have not seen you before," Matthew hastily interrupted, presuming that the question Peorth was asking was in the lines of past meetings.
Peorth was taken aback, she meant to ask "Have you any idea what you caused?". For a moment she stood there as her mental cogs turned.
"How did you- no, that's not what I meant!" Peorth said, slapping her forehead in frustration.
"Peorth, here's your tea," Belldandy said, oblivious to her friend's anguish, while Urd and Skuld continued to badger Matthew in their game of Uno.
The sight of her fellow goddesses so blissfully ignorant of the unknown danger that Matthew represented infuriated Peorth. She angrily swiped the cup of tea from Belldandy and smashed it onto the floor.
The sound of the breaking cup shocked everyone.
Belldandy most of all. Her hands flew to her face. "Peorth..."
"Hey, why did you do that for!?" Urd demanded.
"Yeah! If you don't wanna drink just say so! How dare you waste my sister's tea!" Skuld added.
"You idiots," Peorth hissed. "Have you any idea what's happening to Yggdrasil right now?"
The three goddesses exchanged puzzled glances amongst themselves.
Keiichi stepped in to play the mediator. He was also worried about Matthew being exposed to Yggdrasil and the other aspects of the goddesses that should be kept hidden.
"Look, it seems that you four have a lot to discuss. Come on Matthew, let me show you the temple grounds," Keiichi volunteered.
Matthew shrugged, feeling immensely awkward. He found himself tongue-tied, so he merely got up and followed Keiichi, trying to ignore the accusing glare in Peorth's eyes as he walked past.
As soon as they were out in the compound, Matthew exhaled loudly.
"What the hell was that? Does this happen often?"
Keiichi laughed nervously. "Too much for comfort, I guess you can say that..."
"What's Yggdrasil?"
"It's, uh, their favorite plant. They get very attached to it," Keiichi said, wincing at the white lie.
---
The four goddesses now sat around the sole table in the Morisato living room. The three Norns stared at Peorth.
"Yggdrasil's in lockdown!?" Skuld exclaimed.
"Are you sure you're not pulling our legs?" Urd asked.
Peorth shot her a glare. "Do I even look like I'm joking here?"
"But... our links to Yggdrasil are still intact," Belldandy said.
"It's not a crash... no, it's worst than a crash..."
"Come on, what happened?" Urd asked impatiently.
"Yggdrasil is now in the hands of the Elder Gods. Judge Fides himself gave me the marching orders," Peorth answered grimly.
"Those old farts from the Justice Department!?" Urd yelled indignantly. "Why didn't you stop them?!"
Peorth's nostrils flared angrily. "I'd like to see -you- stand toe-to-toe with Judge Fides sometime!"
"You'll see it and more if any of them retirement home candidates ever show their wrinkled mugs here!" Urd seethed. The sheer anger in her voice stunned Peorth and Skuld. Belldandy had a sad look on her face.
"Why-" Peorth started to ask.
"Peorth," Belldandy interrupted and shook her head. "How did this happen?" she asked, changing the topic.
Peorth warily looked around to make sure that they were not being eavesdropped.
"This is what I know," she took a deep breath, "that the person known as Matthew is the cause of this."
"What!?" the three sisters chimed. Or rather, it was Urd and Skuld, while Belldandy went, "Oh my!"
---
Outside, Keiichi sat on the porch and watched as a depressed looking Matthew walked around kicking the dirt.
'What a change from the cool, confident guy when I first saw him,' Keiichi noted. Indeed, Matthew acted as if there was a general unease about him, pacing back and forth with his head bowed with thought.
"Matthew, is there something bothering you?" Keiichi finally asked.
"I don't know, Keiichi. Something is wrong... I don't know what but something is wrong."
Keiichi blinked. "Well, you've just been here for barely two hours. Maybe you haven't gotten used to it yet."
"No, that's not it," Matthew replied, "it's a nagging feeling I've had ever since I've seen Belldandy."
"Yeah, it's pretty weird how they all seem to know you," Keiichi said, remembering the initial impressions that the American made on the goddesses.
"That's not all. Hell, I don't even remember why I'm in Japan in the first place! I'm supposed to be visiting Korea, but I end up buying a ticket to Japan!" Matthew threw up his hands.
Before Keiichi could comment on anything, Matthew ranted on: "And today's accident! I can't believe I was so easily distracted! It never happened to me before. I -never- had an accident before today. It's unbelievable. It seems that I have bad luck the moment I stepped a foot onto Japan."
"It has to happen sometime. But you won't have bad luck as long as you're with us, Matthew," Keiichi said firmly. 'As long as Belldandy is here to help, that is,' Keiichi mentally added.
Matthew hung his head. "Look, I'm sorry... you guys took me in so readily, and I shouldn't have said that."
"Please, don't worry about it."
"But I am! All the strange coincidences leading up to this point... I didn't tell you this before, but my heart went babump when I first saw your girlfriend and her sisters."
Keiichi chuckled. "They have that effect on guys, it's normal. Especially Urd."
"What? No, well, I can see what you mean, but I didn't mean -that-. My experience wasn't nearly as pleasant. I thought I had suffered a stroke!" Matthew explained.
"Well, that's a first," Keiichi muttered.
Matthew sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Look, this isn't going anywhere. I'm just going to chalk it up to stress."
Keiichi mentally breathed a sigh a relief. He mustered a weak smile. "Yeah, stress can do weird things to you."
When Matthew didn't respond, Keiichi frowned. He looked at the silent American, who was apparently dumbstruck and staring up into the sky. In reflex, Keiichi craned his neck to see for himself.
From the heavens, a slim tower of light burst forth and struck the temple compounds. Runic inscriptions began to appear on the ground where it landed, crackling with blue lightning and thruming with magical power.
Keiichi's mind scrambled as he remembered seeing it. It was the same phenomenon that had threatened to take Belldandy away from him. A Heaven's Gate...
But this time, no one was going up. Rather, somebody was coming down.
Keiichi and Matthew stared as a figure slowly floated down the pillar of light, finally landing a few inches off the ground. She was a middle-aged woman, her hair richly white and tied back in a single pony-tail. Her blue eyes still twinkled with vigour, despite the grandmotherly look on her face. A star-like rune was on her forehead.
Stunned by her unworldly appearance, Keiichi and Matthew could only stay rooted to where they were as the robed woman approached closer.
"After all this time... I finally found you."
-tbc-
----
Thankees
RudyHenkel: Thanks for the encouragement. Hopefully my ideas are different from yours, so that you can write your own O!MG story as well. Good luck!
(): Thanks! Maybe I'll even get your name next time ^_^
---
Notes:
Cohors = Latin for "General's Bodyguard"
-eof-