Part 24: These Three Words
Tyr slid open a traditional Japanese door and stood to the side, Hope looked into the room, somewhat amazed after she had just journeyed through a rather gothic looking castle. "I had one of my servants model this room, and I cast a spell to morph the fire to fill the room with a sort of… sunny look."
Hope put down her school briefcase and a bag full of her personal belongings before looking back at him with a worried smile. "You didn't have to go through all that trouble for me."
Tyr blushed slightly and looked to the side quickly, trying to put up his tough front. "Yeah well… I want you to feel at home, this is pretty sudden so, one step at a time." He sighed then looked over at her. She was still smiling at him.
"Thank you!"
He nodded then heard the giggle of some of his servants. "What do you all want?" He grumbled until they literally ran over him and dashed into the room.
"EEE! Finally Lady Hope is here!" A she demon exclaimed happily while another grabbed her hands.
"We've waited forever for Lord Tyr to propose to you! It's a miracle!"
"Eh?" Hope blushed as another one got in her face.
"So, have you two gone on a honey moon yet?"
"How long till' we are to prepare a room for the little lord or lady?"
"EH!?" Hope's face turned completely red.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Tyr jumped to his feet and marched over to the group. "You all have your duties now get to it!"
"YES LORD TYR!" They cheered and dashed out.
He grimaced and rubbed out his ears. "It sounds more like I have a flock of seagulls instead of servants!"
"Why are they all girls?" Hope asked.
"UGH!? They came with the castle!" Tyr panicked. "Don't worry! They all have their own boyfriends and I can't stand their voices honestly!!"
Hope smiled and giggled. "Tyr I was just kidding!"
"Huh?" He stared at her blankly then sighed with relief. "Okay."
They went silent for a moment, everything was going so fast. Suddenly they were married, and now they were living together!
"Well, there's a bathroom on the other side of that door and a kitchen down that hall… I'll sleep in my room tonight." He said and turned around.
"Wait!" Hope stopped him. "Sleep in here, please?"
"Eh?" He looked back at her surprised.
"Well…" She looked down shamefully. "I'm… kind of… you know…"
"Yeah?"
"… scared."
"Oh…" He looked to the side.
"Please!"
"Ah! Sure!!" He waved his arm frantically. "Don't worry, I was thinking of something."
"Of what?" She asked as she opened the window to see red flames bursting in the background, instead of the simulated image on the glass.
"N… Nothing really, just work…" He said then noticed something. "You… you cut your hair?"
"You just noticed?" Hope sweat dropped.
"Um… sorry, but everything's all outta whack and I didn't really notice at first but…" He walked over to her and ran his fingers through it. "It's really nice …"
Hope blushed and looked down humbly. "Um… well…"
Tyr blushed and quickly stepped back from her. "Well, I need to catch up with work; I missed some serious time while we were up on Earth so I'll see you after a while."
Hope quickly closed the window and walked over to him. "Wait."
"Huh?" He stared down at her and was surprised when she gave him a kiss. "Have a good time at work, dear!" She giggled. "I've always wanted to say that!"
He blushed and nodded with a determined fist. "Yeah! I could get used to this!" he said happily as he walked out the door and marched down the hall.
Hope looked after him with a smile and closed the door, but she still thought of him. "Hmm… I wonder…" She thought and searched around her apartment like room until she came to the small kitchen. "Has Tyr been eating well ever since he left heaven?" She thought until she remembered his extremely well toned golden body. "Well… there's no doubt about that… even still!" She shook off the thought and rolled up her sleeves. "I'll make the most of this curse and I'll be the best wife I can be!" She thought as she pulled out some pans, but their clatter made her think of someone else. "…Momma."
"Hope…" Belldandy thought as she stared down at the meal she had prepared for her family. She had made a little too much, but she was so used to cooking for a family of eight.
"Bell?" Keiichi looked into the kitchen. "Are you alright?"
"Oh? Dear," She smiled quickly to cover her distress. "I'm fine."
"Here," He walked into the kitchen and opened a cabinet. "I'll set the table."
"Thank you." She nodded as she went back to cooking.
Keiichi grabbed eight, but then slid out seven. "Nauthiz told me, that Peorth heard…"
Belldandy fanned the smoked fish then stirred some rice.
"…She cried."
"I understand." Belldandy said as she covered the rice up. "A mother wants more than anything to see their son or daughter get married… but…"
He finished pulling down the rest of the settings then looked over at her, her bangs were covering her eyes, but he knew full well, that the droplets falling from her chin, were not from the steam of the food on her face.
"This is Hope's favorite meal… she was looking forward to helping me…helping me…" Belldandy sniffled. "…"
Keiichi turned her to him and let her rest her head on his shoulder as he held her tenderly. "Things happen… always when we least expect." Keiichi said. "But somehow…"
Belldandy looked to him.
"Hope has always had the talent of finding her way and making through every challenge that's come to her." He smiled kindly. "She'll be home before you know it, with that cat grin of hers on her face."
Belldandy smiled and laughed slightly. "That's right…" She thought as she imagined that cute smile.
"Momma, Poppa?" Kioshi was standing in the doorway with tear soaked cheeks.
"Dinner's almost ready Kioshi-dear." Belldandy walked to him and wiped some fresh tears from his eyes. "Did you hear what Poppa said?"
He nodded slowly.
Keiichi picked up the plates and gave his son a little nudge. "Come on, let's go set the table okay?"
"…Okay." Kioshi nodded and followed after him like a little duckling.
Belldandy smiled happily. "Hope, please come home soon, it's not time for you to leave the nest yet."
A while later in Muspelhiem…
"All fire levels are perfect, well done my lord." Eldir nodded and looked over to him.
Tyr was tapping his foot impatiently and had a look on his face like he had a bad itch. "Okay, okay! I've done enough work to catch up for five days!" He said and quickly turned his back to him.
"Headin' home?" Eldir asked.
"YEAH!" He barked.
"Alright, you're done anyway, oh and one more thing!" He called.
Tyr stopped and glared back at him irritably.
"Good job man! You bagged yourself a hottie!" He grinned. "So have you two…"
Suddenly the demon found Tyr's left in his face which sent him flying into the fires.
"People stop asking THAT!!" He roared and quickly marched back towards his castle.
"IT BURNS!!" Eldir shouted as he bounced back onto the working platform and ran around in circles until he was able to beat out his burning body. "What's gotten into him?"
Tyr's march turned into a run, his ring was glowing and the look on his face was urgent. "All I could think about was Hope, I gotta see her now!" He told himself and ran faster until he came to her door and quickly slid it open and shut it behind him. "Hope?"
It was quiet, and the simulated outside light was dimmed to a night sky. "She asleep?" He thought as he walked out into the living room, seeing the table pushed to the side with a big serving of foods he'd never seen before. "That smell…" He sniffed at the air, it smelled great!
"Tyr?" Hope's voice echoed from the bathroom. "Is that you?" Her voice called in a slightly frightened tone.
"Ah… yeah it's me!" he quickly answered. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's okay." Hope slid open the door, she was standing in her towel but she was happy just to see Tyr.
"AH!" His eyes nearly bulged out of his head but he quickly slapped his hand over his face. "HOPE!"
"Eh?" She snapped out of her joy and looked down at herself. "Ah!"
"I didn't see much!" Tyr stammered.
"It… It's okay…" Hope closed the bathroom door. "We're… we're married."
He peaked through his fingers and stared at her silhouette on the door. "But…"
"Even if it's a curse… to some level we have to accept it." She blushed and quickly dried herself off and morphed into her Nekomi Tech shirt. Slowly she slid the door open and stared at Tyr. "Are you hungry?"
"Hungry?" He asked.
"I made some dinner." She looked over at the table.
"Oh!" He quickly sat down and stared at the chopsticks.
"It may be a little cold." She said as she sat down next to him.
Tyr grinned and held his hand out over the table, it burned red for a moment then he said contently. "Now it's not."
Hope reached over the table and held her hand over the rice bowl. "You're right! Tyr that's amazing!"
He saw down her shirt but quickly looked to the side. "It's… nothing… um." He looked back at the chopsticks. "How do you eat the food?"
Hope picked up the chopsticks and grabbed some rice for him. "Say 'Ah'."
"Ah." He opened his mouth and was met with the wonder that was Hope's cooking.
"How is it?" She asked.
Tears streamed down his face. "I haven't had such good food since that one day you cooked that cake in heaven!" He exclaimed.
"Come on!" she slapped him on the back humbly.
"Seriously!" He interrupted and picked up another pair of chopsticks, he held them wrong but managed to shovel the food into his mouth.
Five minutes later, after he completely cleaned off the table.
"So this is what it is like to be full?" Tyr had blush marks on his face to match his contempt smile.
"I'm glad you liked it so much." Hope said with a yawn and stretched out. "Mmm! I have school tomorrow, I should get to bed."
"Eh? Oh!" Tyr quickly cleared the table and put it into the closet as Hope pulled out her futon and set it out. "Don't worry about the dishes, new ones form in place of the ones used every time you eat so you can focus on more important matters." Tyr said.
"Well, I just focused on one." Hope said.
"…"
"We only have one futon…"
Tyr grimaced. "Damn those gulls, they planned this out!"
"… This futon is for two…" Hope blushed.
"Eh…?" Tyr stared at it for a moment then exchanged a look with her. "Um… well… I'll just have someone bring me a blanket and I'll sleep over there." He pointed to the other side of the room, hesitantly.
"…" Hope slowly reached her hand into his and held onto it.
"Hope?"
She looked up at him. "We'll just have to accept it."
Tyr changed in the other room into black sleeping pants and dropped off his heavy jacket. "My scar…" He thought, and rubbed at the terrible scar that stretched along a good portion of his right side. When he came out, he found Hope already lying in the futon, peacefully drifting in and out of sleep.
"…Okay…" Tyr thought and quickly slid into the other side and pulled the comforter slightly over his right shoulder. Before attempting to sleep, he looked over at her. "… I'm happy; she's here by my side… but…" He thought. "I didn't want it to be like this, not so soon. Right now, I bet she's thinking about her family and about that little kid…" His expression hardened. "Damn you Hild, this is too cruel… even for you."
"Tyr?"
"… Yeah?"
"Thank you for staying with me."
"It's nothing… I'm being rewarded to share a futon with you!" He joked.
"Hey." She groaned only to hear him chuckle. "Fine then." She scooted away from him slightly. "I'll sleep on this half and you sleep on the other." She joked until his arm shot under her hip and flipped her over, her cheek and left hand then rested on his chest.
Tyr was quiet for a moment as he held her gently, somewhat worried that he may have frightened her with his monstrous strength. "There's some things we'll just have to accept." He said.
Hope blushed and closed her eyes.
"'nuff horseplay, you have to go to school tomorrow, so get some sleep."
"Okay…" She smiled gently. "Good night."
Tyr held a steady watch for a few minutes, though he knew no one dared come near his castle to attack him, so he gently closed his eyes, still holding gently onto Hope's waist. "Good night."
That next morning, Tyr casually led Hope, covered in a long cape, to the bridge which connected Hell to the realm of man, Midgard. "Cross this bridge. When you get to the gateway, think only of your destination and you should appear where you need to go." He said as he stopped at the bridge and placed a red gem in Hope's hand. "When you need to return, just pray into that gem and you will return home."
Hope stared at Tyr for a moment and giggled. "You make it sound like I'm going on a mystical quest or something!"
He looked to the side and coughed. "Well… anyway…"
"I'll see you during lunch time, if possible." She quickly added.
"Right." He nodded as she started her way up the bridge. "See ya!"
"Bye!" She waved to him and hurried her pace; the first bell must have rung by then. "Oh geez! I was so comfortable this morning I just didn't want to wake up!" She thought to herself shamefully as she drew to the middle of the bridge, running past an ominously cloaked demon. Though she paid no mind to this figure, she was in too much a hurry, that is, until their path's aligned, the figure glared at her from the side, half of her face covered in shadows.
"Who was that?" Hope thought then hurried her pace again. "No time to be curious! I'm going to be late!" she exclaimed as she came to the gate and vanished.
"…" The demon seemed slightly annoyed and clenched her fist before taking her leave.
Meanwhile at Nekomi Elementary…
"Where was your big sister Kioshi-chan?" A little girl with black hair and green eyes asked curiously. "Did she wake up late again?"
"Um… yeah." He stuttered then glared at her. "Rika-chan! I told you not to call me Kioshi-chan! Call me with kun like the other boys!" he huffed as he stomped off towards his classroom, with her trotting behind.
"I like chan, it suits you better!" She smiled.
"No it doesn't!" he pouted as he opened the door and walked in to see everyone huddled in their own groups of friends. However, before Kioshi never really had his own group, now, with the exception of Rika, he had made friends with two boys and three girls. Maybe it was because now he was a Morisato. Rather than sitting in the corner and frowning, he'd raise his hand and answer questions, or be seen sitting with his growing group of friends and laughing happily the way all children should.
"Morisato!" His friends called.
"Good Morning!" Kioshi called back with a smile.
"Good Morning!"
"Sorry!" Hope came dashing down the halls until she was able to spin into Mrs. Tetsuya's room. "Good Morning!" She called.
"Morning!" The class called back as she quickly sat in her desk and sighed in exhaustion.
"Miss Hope!" Nauthiz quickly turned to her. "I heard, is everything alright?" He asked worriedly.
"I'm fine." Hope smiled.
"Really?" Akina scooted her desk next to Hope's and stared at her hands. "I always knew you'd get the knot tied before me."
"You mean tie the knot?" Hope whispered embarrassingly.
"Oh yeah…" She sweat dropped. "Anyway, figure out how to get the ring off yet?"
"Not yet…" Hope sighed as Mrs. Tetsuya came into the room.
"Good Morning everyone, did you all have a nice weekend?" she asked cheerfully as she set her case down on her desk.
"Yes Ma'am!"
"That's nice to hear, because today we're taking an English exam!" she quickly whipped a blank sheet off of her desk and smiled brightly as the class groaned in unison. "What? Hey, now don't give me that, I'm pretty lenient when it comes to how many exams I give out so get your pencils ready!" She said sternly, making the class laugh slightly.
"I'm in trouble! I'm the absolute worst when it comes to essays!" Akina whispered.
"You'll do fine." Hope whispered back as she got her blank sheet.
"The subject is on the paper, I expect two pages front and back by the end of the period… begin." Mrs. Tetsuya signaled and scanned over her class, seeing the common frustrated face blended in with sleeping ones, and working ones. Though what she did not expect was to see a dazed look on her prized student. "Hmm…" She looked at Hope worriedly for only a moment then took her seat behind her desk.
A while later, several demons were going about their day surprised by how energetic they were feeling. Surely it was because Tyr was working at a quicker pace than needed and supplying them with enormous amounts of power.
"Wow." Mara flexed her arms. "This getting married business is doing us all some good, I feel like I could kick Bell's butt a hundred times over but…" she thought of Hope then waved her old urges off, despite how tempting they were..
"It is wonderful isn't it?" Hild asked with a smile. "However, I noticed that Lady Hope wasn't with Lord Tyr just a few minutes ago…" She said somewhat worriedly. "Don't tell me she's actually risking the curse and going to school today?"
"Knowing her she probably is." Mara answered.
"Well, then that power rush you're feeling is from Tyr's growing desire for Hope…"
"EH!?" the demon gawked as Hild rose from her chair.
"Well, this could be bad, Hope may be feeling the same way…" She raised an eyebrow in intrigue.
"But… Hope is Belldandy's daughter! She'll have some resistance… right?" Mara asked, full of concern.
"Hope is also Keiichi's daughter, and grew up a human. Unlike her mother who grew up with a goddess's modesty."
"You're not saying…"
"If enough time passes that they are not together, they may just get THAT close!" Hild giggled. "However, even though I am a love demon I don't want their first time to be out of this curse… guess I better cut the fun."
"TCH!"
She glared to the side, Mara quickly cowered but she was not the one the demon queen was glaring at.
The hooded demon Hope had encountered on the bridge stood in Hild's hall and glared back up at the Queen coldly.
"I don't believe you were granted the authority to walk in my hall nor near my headquarters…Ever." She said, clenching her fist that crackled with electricity.
"My apologies Hild-sama…" The figure grinned. "I shall take better notice of your warnings in the future."
"It would do you best to take notice now." She said, snapping her fingers. Suddenly a force surrounded the figure and forced her on her knees. "Remember why you were banished here in the first place."
"Trust me, I have not forgotten…" She said and held a hand to the side of her face, covered in the shadows.
Hild removed the punishing spell and held firm her glare as the figure returned to her feet.
"I'll take my leave then…"
"Hold it." Hild said coolly. "Those creatures and spirits that you have been sending after Hope…"
She returned her glare to Hild.
"Stop it; I won't tolerate any further attacks, or anything that will over stress her. She is of too much importance for a lowly reject like you."
For a moment, the figure shined with dark threatening power, but slowly took leave.
Hild watched after her then sighed before sitting back on her throne. "How dare Kami trouble me by sending me that troublesome fallen goddess as if my wonderful Hell were a prison!" She sighed as she rested her chin in her left hand.
"Hild-sama?" Mara's voice was weak.
"Hmm?"
"You do care about Hope don't you?" Her eyes sparkled, scaring the queen slightly. "Um… of course not, I just want Hope to not have to worry about those little beastie things anymore so she can focus more on protecting herself from my power!" Hild giggled menacingly, though Mara was still knew the real reason.
"I see, abusive love?" She asked happily. "That means we'll take it easier on her… right?"
"Wrong!" Hild stated. "I'm too sadistic! The torment shall go on forever!" She giggled in delight.
Two hours later…
Hope stared out the window boringly and sighed, her foot tapping and spinning her pencil between her fingers. "Tyr…"
"Pencils down." Mrs. Tetsuya called.
"Eh… EH!?" Hope panicked when she saw her paper, for the past two hours she had written Tyr's name all over both sides of her paper.
"So Hope, how'd you do?" Akina asked as Mrs. Tetsuya began to walk around and collect papers.
"NNG!" Hope's eyes widened and she quickly took off one of her earrings. "Well…" She threw it down, the moment it hit the floor, everything stopped. Akina perfectly froze in place along with everyone else. "That's the first time I've used magic for a selfish benefit…" Hope sobbed. "No… No time for crying, this time spell will only last for half an hour." She said and quickly jumped out of her desk to get clean sheets of paper from Mrs. Tetsuya's desk, however, she couldn't find them. "Oh no! Where… where are they?"
"Top drawer on the right…"
Hope looked up, she recognized the voice and blushed in shame as she took her papers and returned to her desk. "I… I'm sorry…"
"Don't worry about it, I heard."
"About… me and Tyr?" Hope asked.
"Hmm… he's on your mind now isn't he?"
"Like a song that I can't get out of my head… It's maddening because I want to hear it… I want to see him now." She said irritatingly as she grabbed her head.
"Well … the only way to make a song get out of your head, is to think of another one."
"…"
"You only have twenty seven more minutes."
"Ah!? Right!" Hope quickly went to work, but paused for a moment. "Thank you… Onee-sama."
Later when the Lunch bell tolled, Akina and Nauthiz looked on sadly as Hope quickly left the classroom. "I really hope that she'll be able to break that curse soon." Akina sighed.
Nauthiz looked down. "I hope that she will be able to break the curse."
Tyr waited impatiently at the end of the bridge, pacing back and forth with his eyes fixed on the gateway. "… Where are you…"
"KIYAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"Eh?" Tyr looked up, but again similar to an earlier event ended up on the ground seeing stars.
"I didn't use the charm right…" Hope said aloud then got to her feet. "Um… Tyr? Where are you?"
"Right here…"
"Eh?" She stared around blankly, and nearly screamed when she felt the ground rise under her feet.
"You're standing on me." Tyr said as he did a one armed handstand and looked back up at her.
"Tyr! I'm sorry!" Hope quickly jumped off his back.
"What took so long?" He asked as he got to his feet. "Seemed like a week passed by."
"I know what you mean." Hope groaned. "I'm sorry Tyr; I messed up on an exam and well…" She noticed then the fixed look on his face. "Tyr…?"
"Hmm? AH! Sorry!" He waved it off. "Let's go home."
"Okay, but I can only stay for a little while then I have to go back." Hope said as she began heading towards his castle.
"What!?" He nearly shouted. "There's more school!?"
"Tyr, what's wrong?"
He looked at her then rubbed his forehead. "We can't do this… whenever you're not around me I feel like I'm going insane! All I can think about is you and I want you more and more!"
Hope blushed and looked down. "Can we… talk about this…?" She looked to the side, noticing all the demons that had stopped to stare at them.
"Uh…" Tyr blushed and quickly grabbed Hope's hand, transporting them to their small apartment.
"… Thank you." She smiled. "But I felt the same way, when I was writing my exam in my English class I blanked out and wrote your name all over it, thousands of times! It felt like I was waiting for something exciting to come, but the time kept dragging."
"Then don't go anymore, you don't need some earth education to live in Muspelhiem." Tyr said.
Hope looked up at him and frowned. "Tyr, this is my last year of high school, I've waited for this for years and next semester I'm finally going to get to go to Nekomi Tech like Momma and Poppa."
He looked at her for a moment, shocked with himself. "I… I'm sorry, I didn't…" His eyes widened and he glared at his hand. "This damn ring!!" He growled and tried to yank it off with his teeth, ignoring the sharp pain the snapped at him.
"Tyr!" Hope panicked and yanked his hand out of his mouth.
"It's amplifying our own selfish desires, but my feelings are ten times worse because I'm a half demon! I want only for myself! I don't even care about your own desires!"
Hope looked down and blushed. "That… that's not true, it's the same."
"Eventually…" He growled in frustration. "…we'll grow to hate each other because of these rings."
"We're finally together, but because we can only think of each other, we can't think of others, our friends and family, the people of Earth and heaven…" She held Tyr's hand. "And Hell."
Tyr's frustrated expression faded into worry.
Hope looked back up at him, and smiled slightly. "…Remember that time…"
"Huh?" He looked at her completely puzzled.
"When we were training…? You sure were a little meanie back then!" She laughed.
"Hey, this is serious! Don't change the subject and remini… hey I was not!!" He huffed, though when he thought about it. "Well… maybe, but you were a spaz!" he poked fun at her.
"Could you blame me? You're the one who froze me in place then carried me off to heaven over your shoulder like a rag doll."
"Orders are orders!"
"Rambo!"
"Daddy's Girl!"
They both stared at each other for a moment, snickered, then fell back laughing.
"To be honest," Tyr coughed while trying to break from his laughter, "That time had to have been the best time of my life!" He laughed. "Till' that point, I was a solo god, I wouldn't train with anyone else because I didn't want them to be my… my…" he couldn't stop laughing for some reason.
"Equal?" Hope finished for him as she wiped a few joyful tears from her eyes.
"Yeah!" he nodded. "But you know you can't get stronger without someone to practice with. So… I guess I owe my strength to you!"
"You guess?" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah! I guess!" he grinned proudly until Hope caught him in a headlock.
"You jerk!" She laughed. "You KNOW you got stronger because of me! Admit it! Come on!"
"Agh! Okay, okay!" He tapped the floor with his hand so she would let him go.
"Hah! I win!" Hope cheered victoriously then stared down at him as he tried to catch his breath, with his head resting in her lap. "You're still the same meanie…"
He looked up at her with a frown again.
"But I'm glad." She blushed and looked to the side for a moment. "Because well…"
Tyr sat up and looked at her, unknowing to them both that their rings were crackling with electricity.
"Oh you know!" she slapped him on the shoulder.
Tyr smiled and held her hand. "I'm glad you're still a daddy's girl too…"
She smiled gently then cringed at the snap she felt on her finger. "Ow!"
"Ggk!" Tyr stared down at his ring to see it cracking until it snapped off of his finger. "It… It came off!"
Hope looked as her ring snapped off too and cheered. "We broke the curse!"
Tyr caught her hand and shook it like they just won a game. "Hell I knew it! There's nothing we can't beat!"
Hope blushed and pulled him torward her.
"Eh….Mm?" His eyes widened.
Hope kissed him then pressed her forehead up against his. "… I may still be a Daddy's girl, but instead of shaking hands, I'd rather kiss you, meanie."
Tyr smiled slightly and looked to the side shamefully while Hope giggled at him for blushing.
Meanwhile on the bookshelf…
"Aww…" Mara sighed happily.
"I can't think of anything that would make this scene more perfect!" Hild added. "My curse turned into the perfect confession of love!"
"But how were they able to break the rings?" she asked.
"Simple." Hild slid on her Dr. Bryn glasses. "The rings of Beowulf were created to make two people that hate each other fall in love with one another for all eternity. However, Hope and Tyr have been in love from the start, the rings really had no purpose other than forcing them to stay together all the time and driving them mad."
"… That's why you wanted me to get the rings in the first place?" Mara sweat dropped.
"Yes, too bad the fun ended a little quickly!" She giggled, making Mara trip over. "But I knew they'd break the curse soon enough… I'm glad for them."
"Ah… EH!?" Mara gawked.
Hild tilted her head and smiled. "Such a lovely aura that forms around them when they are together… can you see it Maa-chan?"
Mara looked down at them, not at first, but then she saw the soft blue aura that surrounded them.
"I hope they get married soon! Then I can sway Hope into becoming a demon!" She chimed happily. "And maybe my little Urd too!!"
"I wouldn't count on it…"
Later that day….
"Well, I guess I'd better get back home." Hope looked down humbly, as Tyr stared to the side, trying not to appear humble as well.
"Looks like it… but um, I'm sure that now you can drop down and visit anytime you want… and I'll try and come see you as often as I can so there's no problem."
She looked up at him and smiled. "I guess… you're right."
He smiled back and blushed when she stood up on her tiptoes and whispered something into his ear. "Ah…"
She looked at him for a moment, almost telling him it was okay since there were other demons standing around and started her way over the bridge.
"… Damn." He grumbled until he saw a few demons eyeing her, and one that even got the nerve to make a move.
"Hey, now that you're not married to that half demon I'll show you what a full demon can…" His sleazy intro was cut short when Tyr dashed up the bridge and between them, eyeing the demon down with his fiery eyes.
"Th… thanks Tyr." Hope sighed in relief until he spun around and hugged her.
"I love you too."
"…!" She turned completely red.
"A real demon or god can say that as loud as he wants and anywhere he wants!" He smiled then opened a portal behind her. "At least, you gave me that sort of strength."
"Tyr…"
"… Now get going, you'll be late for dinner." He shoved her through the portal and closed it off. "…"
"Uh…" several had stopped to stare in awe or surprise from the moment.
"WHAT!?" He barked, making them hastily continue on their ways.
Later on Earth…
Kioshi trotted out of his school, a happy smile on his face until he neared the gates. "… Onee-sama won't be here today." He thought, and his head sunk as he continued on his way.
"Why so low? You looked better when you were skipping."
Kioshi grumbled and looked to the side, and his eyes widened in shock.
"Did you have a good day at school?" Hope asked.
Kioshi dropped his case and smiled happily. "ONEE-SAN!!" He hugged onto her knees tightly. "It's you!"
"It's me!" Hope nodded and mussed his hair.
"I missed you So much!" He sniffled.
"Hey, I was only gone for a day!" She smiled and held him back a little so she could kneel down and rub the tears from his eyes.
"It felt longer!"
"…" She gave him a hug and picked up his case. Kioshi laughed slightly at how childish he was and took his bag and held her hand as she began walking home. "Perhaps… Tyr and I were able to break the rings power because of our love for each other, but… also because we love our family and friends so much. Kioshi desperately wanted me to be by his side, even though I was only gone for a day." She thought as he smiled up at her and held her hand tight.
"I love you Onee-san!" He chimed.
"I love you too."
~* A Fan Author's Worthless Rant* ~
Again, sorry for the long wait… been busy with finals and holidays and such… not really much to report here and I'm sorry if I did not meet your expectations… but it is simply too soon for Hope and Tyr ^^ *giggles*
Tyr: GRRRR!!!
Ahem… ^^;; The last little bit was just added on today *2 -3 -04 * because I felt a little more was needed from where we left off with Tyr, hopefully part 25 will roll out quicker than this one did ^^;; afterwards, let's just say… you thought you'd seen it all.
See ya next time!
Tyr slid open a traditional Japanese door and stood to the side, Hope looked into the room, somewhat amazed after she had just journeyed through a rather gothic looking castle. "I had one of my servants model this room, and I cast a spell to morph the fire to fill the room with a sort of… sunny look."
Hope put down her school briefcase and a bag full of her personal belongings before looking back at him with a worried smile. "You didn't have to go through all that trouble for me."
Tyr blushed slightly and looked to the side quickly, trying to put up his tough front. "Yeah well… I want you to feel at home, this is pretty sudden so, one step at a time." He sighed then looked over at her. She was still smiling at him.
"Thank you!"
He nodded then heard the giggle of some of his servants. "What do you all want?" He grumbled until they literally ran over him and dashed into the room.
"EEE! Finally Lady Hope is here!" A she demon exclaimed happily while another grabbed her hands.
"We've waited forever for Lord Tyr to propose to you! It's a miracle!"
"Eh?" Hope blushed as another one got in her face.
"So, have you two gone on a honey moon yet?"
"How long till' we are to prepare a room for the little lord or lady?"
"EH!?" Hope's face turned completely red.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Tyr jumped to his feet and marched over to the group. "You all have your duties now get to it!"
"YES LORD TYR!" They cheered and dashed out.
He grimaced and rubbed out his ears. "It sounds more like I have a flock of seagulls instead of servants!"
"Why are they all girls?" Hope asked.
"UGH!? They came with the castle!" Tyr panicked. "Don't worry! They all have their own boyfriends and I can't stand their voices honestly!!"
Hope smiled and giggled. "Tyr I was just kidding!"
"Huh?" He stared at her blankly then sighed with relief. "Okay."
They went silent for a moment, everything was going so fast. Suddenly they were married, and now they were living together!
"Well, there's a bathroom on the other side of that door and a kitchen down that hall… I'll sleep in my room tonight." He said and turned around.
"Wait!" Hope stopped him. "Sleep in here, please?"
"Eh?" He looked back at her surprised.
"Well…" She looked down shamefully. "I'm… kind of… you know…"
"Yeah?"
"… scared."
"Oh…" He looked to the side.
"Please!"
"Ah! Sure!!" He waved his arm frantically. "Don't worry, I was thinking of something."
"Of what?" She asked as she opened the window to see red flames bursting in the background, instead of the simulated image on the glass.
"N… Nothing really, just work…" He said then noticed something. "You… you cut your hair?"
"You just noticed?" Hope sweat dropped.
"Um… sorry, but everything's all outta whack and I didn't really notice at first but…" He walked over to her and ran his fingers through it. "It's really nice …"
Hope blushed and looked down humbly. "Um… well…"
Tyr blushed and quickly stepped back from her. "Well, I need to catch up with work; I missed some serious time while we were up on Earth so I'll see you after a while."
Hope quickly closed the window and walked over to him. "Wait."
"Huh?" He stared down at her and was surprised when she gave him a kiss. "Have a good time at work, dear!" She giggled. "I've always wanted to say that!"
He blushed and nodded with a determined fist. "Yeah! I could get used to this!" he said happily as he walked out the door and marched down the hall.
Hope looked after him with a smile and closed the door, but she still thought of him. "Hmm… I wonder…" She thought and searched around her apartment like room until she came to the small kitchen. "Has Tyr been eating well ever since he left heaven?" She thought until she remembered his extremely well toned golden body. "Well… there's no doubt about that… even still!" She shook off the thought and rolled up her sleeves. "I'll make the most of this curse and I'll be the best wife I can be!" She thought as she pulled out some pans, but their clatter made her think of someone else. "…Momma."
"Hope…" Belldandy thought as she stared down at the meal she had prepared for her family. She had made a little too much, but she was so used to cooking for a family of eight.
"Bell?" Keiichi looked into the kitchen. "Are you alright?"
"Oh? Dear," She smiled quickly to cover her distress. "I'm fine."
"Here," He walked into the kitchen and opened a cabinet. "I'll set the table."
"Thank you." She nodded as she went back to cooking.
Keiichi grabbed eight, but then slid out seven. "Nauthiz told me, that Peorth heard…"
Belldandy fanned the smoked fish then stirred some rice.
"…She cried."
"I understand." Belldandy said as she covered the rice up. "A mother wants more than anything to see their son or daughter get married… but…"
He finished pulling down the rest of the settings then looked over at her, her bangs were covering her eyes, but he knew full well, that the droplets falling from her chin, were not from the steam of the food on her face.
"This is Hope's favorite meal… she was looking forward to helping me…helping me…" Belldandy sniffled. "…"
Keiichi turned her to him and let her rest her head on his shoulder as he held her tenderly. "Things happen… always when we least expect." Keiichi said. "But somehow…"
Belldandy looked to him.
"Hope has always had the talent of finding her way and making through every challenge that's come to her." He smiled kindly. "She'll be home before you know it, with that cat grin of hers on her face."
Belldandy smiled and laughed slightly. "That's right…" She thought as she imagined that cute smile.
"Momma, Poppa?" Kioshi was standing in the doorway with tear soaked cheeks.
"Dinner's almost ready Kioshi-dear." Belldandy walked to him and wiped some fresh tears from his eyes. "Did you hear what Poppa said?"
He nodded slowly.
Keiichi picked up the plates and gave his son a little nudge. "Come on, let's go set the table okay?"
"…Okay." Kioshi nodded and followed after him like a little duckling.
Belldandy smiled happily. "Hope, please come home soon, it's not time for you to leave the nest yet."
A while later in Muspelhiem…
"All fire levels are perfect, well done my lord." Eldir nodded and looked over to him.
Tyr was tapping his foot impatiently and had a look on his face like he had a bad itch. "Okay, okay! I've done enough work to catch up for five days!" He said and quickly turned his back to him.
"Headin' home?" Eldir asked.
"YEAH!" He barked.
"Alright, you're done anyway, oh and one more thing!" He called.
Tyr stopped and glared back at him irritably.
"Good job man! You bagged yourself a hottie!" He grinned. "So have you two…"
Suddenly the demon found Tyr's left in his face which sent him flying into the fires.
"People stop asking THAT!!" He roared and quickly marched back towards his castle.
"IT BURNS!!" Eldir shouted as he bounced back onto the working platform and ran around in circles until he was able to beat out his burning body. "What's gotten into him?"
Tyr's march turned into a run, his ring was glowing and the look on his face was urgent. "All I could think about was Hope, I gotta see her now!" He told himself and ran faster until he came to her door and quickly slid it open and shut it behind him. "Hope?"
It was quiet, and the simulated outside light was dimmed to a night sky. "She asleep?" He thought as he walked out into the living room, seeing the table pushed to the side with a big serving of foods he'd never seen before. "That smell…" He sniffed at the air, it smelled great!
"Tyr?" Hope's voice echoed from the bathroom. "Is that you?" Her voice called in a slightly frightened tone.
"Ah… yeah it's me!" he quickly answered. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's okay." Hope slid open the door, she was standing in her towel but she was happy just to see Tyr.
"AH!" His eyes nearly bulged out of his head but he quickly slapped his hand over his face. "HOPE!"
"Eh?" She snapped out of her joy and looked down at herself. "Ah!"
"I didn't see much!" Tyr stammered.
"It… It's okay…" Hope closed the bathroom door. "We're… we're married."
He peaked through his fingers and stared at her silhouette on the door. "But…"
"Even if it's a curse… to some level we have to accept it." She blushed and quickly dried herself off and morphed into her Nekomi Tech shirt. Slowly she slid the door open and stared at Tyr. "Are you hungry?"
"Hungry?" He asked.
"I made some dinner." She looked over at the table.
"Oh!" He quickly sat down and stared at the chopsticks.
"It may be a little cold." She said as she sat down next to him.
Tyr grinned and held his hand out over the table, it burned red for a moment then he said contently. "Now it's not."
Hope reached over the table and held her hand over the rice bowl. "You're right! Tyr that's amazing!"
He saw down her shirt but quickly looked to the side. "It's… nothing… um." He looked back at the chopsticks. "How do you eat the food?"
Hope picked up the chopsticks and grabbed some rice for him. "Say 'Ah'."
"Ah." He opened his mouth and was met with the wonder that was Hope's cooking.
"How is it?" She asked.
Tears streamed down his face. "I haven't had such good food since that one day you cooked that cake in heaven!" He exclaimed.
"Come on!" she slapped him on the back humbly.
"Seriously!" He interrupted and picked up another pair of chopsticks, he held them wrong but managed to shovel the food into his mouth.
Five minutes later, after he completely cleaned off the table.
"So this is what it is like to be full?" Tyr had blush marks on his face to match his contempt smile.
"I'm glad you liked it so much." Hope said with a yawn and stretched out. "Mmm! I have school tomorrow, I should get to bed."
"Eh? Oh!" Tyr quickly cleared the table and put it into the closet as Hope pulled out her futon and set it out. "Don't worry about the dishes, new ones form in place of the ones used every time you eat so you can focus on more important matters." Tyr said.
"Well, I just focused on one." Hope said.
"…"
"We only have one futon…"
Tyr grimaced. "Damn those gulls, they planned this out!"
"… This futon is for two…" Hope blushed.
"Eh…?" Tyr stared at it for a moment then exchanged a look with her. "Um… well… I'll just have someone bring me a blanket and I'll sleep over there." He pointed to the other side of the room, hesitantly.
"…" Hope slowly reached her hand into his and held onto it.
"Hope?"
She looked up at him. "We'll just have to accept it."
Tyr changed in the other room into black sleeping pants and dropped off his heavy jacket. "My scar…" He thought, and rubbed at the terrible scar that stretched along a good portion of his right side. When he came out, he found Hope already lying in the futon, peacefully drifting in and out of sleep.
"…Okay…" Tyr thought and quickly slid into the other side and pulled the comforter slightly over his right shoulder. Before attempting to sleep, he looked over at her. "… I'm happy; she's here by my side… but…" He thought. "I didn't want it to be like this, not so soon. Right now, I bet she's thinking about her family and about that little kid…" His expression hardened. "Damn you Hild, this is too cruel… even for you."
"Tyr?"
"… Yeah?"
"Thank you for staying with me."
"It's nothing… I'm being rewarded to share a futon with you!" He joked.
"Hey." She groaned only to hear him chuckle. "Fine then." She scooted away from him slightly. "I'll sleep on this half and you sleep on the other." She joked until his arm shot under her hip and flipped her over, her cheek and left hand then rested on his chest.
Tyr was quiet for a moment as he held her gently, somewhat worried that he may have frightened her with his monstrous strength. "There's some things we'll just have to accept." He said.
Hope blushed and closed her eyes.
"'nuff horseplay, you have to go to school tomorrow, so get some sleep."
"Okay…" She smiled gently. "Good night."
Tyr held a steady watch for a few minutes, though he knew no one dared come near his castle to attack him, so he gently closed his eyes, still holding gently onto Hope's waist. "Good night."
That next morning, Tyr casually led Hope, covered in a long cape, to the bridge which connected Hell to the realm of man, Midgard. "Cross this bridge. When you get to the gateway, think only of your destination and you should appear where you need to go." He said as he stopped at the bridge and placed a red gem in Hope's hand. "When you need to return, just pray into that gem and you will return home."
Hope stared at Tyr for a moment and giggled. "You make it sound like I'm going on a mystical quest or something!"
He looked to the side and coughed. "Well… anyway…"
"I'll see you during lunch time, if possible." She quickly added.
"Right." He nodded as she started her way up the bridge. "See ya!"
"Bye!" She waved to him and hurried her pace; the first bell must have rung by then. "Oh geez! I was so comfortable this morning I just didn't want to wake up!" She thought to herself shamefully as she drew to the middle of the bridge, running past an ominously cloaked demon. Though she paid no mind to this figure, she was in too much a hurry, that is, until their path's aligned, the figure glared at her from the side, half of her face covered in shadows.
"Who was that?" Hope thought then hurried her pace again. "No time to be curious! I'm going to be late!" she exclaimed as she came to the gate and vanished.
"…" The demon seemed slightly annoyed and clenched her fist before taking her leave.
Meanwhile at Nekomi Elementary…
"Where was your big sister Kioshi-chan?" A little girl with black hair and green eyes asked curiously. "Did she wake up late again?"
"Um… yeah." He stuttered then glared at her. "Rika-chan! I told you not to call me Kioshi-chan! Call me with kun like the other boys!" he huffed as he stomped off towards his classroom, with her trotting behind.
"I like chan, it suits you better!" She smiled.
"No it doesn't!" he pouted as he opened the door and walked in to see everyone huddled in their own groups of friends. However, before Kioshi never really had his own group, now, with the exception of Rika, he had made friends with two boys and three girls. Maybe it was because now he was a Morisato. Rather than sitting in the corner and frowning, he'd raise his hand and answer questions, or be seen sitting with his growing group of friends and laughing happily the way all children should.
"Morisato!" His friends called.
"Good Morning!" Kioshi called back with a smile.
"Good Morning!"
"Sorry!" Hope came dashing down the halls until she was able to spin into Mrs. Tetsuya's room. "Good Morning!" She called.
"Morning!" The class called back as she quickly sat in her desk and sighed in exhaustion.
"Miss Hope!" Nauthiz quickly turned to her. "I heard, is everything alright?" He asked worriedly.
"I'm fine." Hope smiled.
"Really?" Akina scooted her desk next to Hope's and stared at her hands. "I always knew you'd get the knot tied before me."
"You mean tie the knot?" Hope whispered embarrassingly.
"Oh yeah…" She sweat dropped. "Anyway, figure out how to get the ring off yet?"
"Not yet…" Hope sighed as Mrs. Tetsuya came into the room.
"Good Morning everyone, did you all have a nice weekend?" she asked cheerfully as she set her case down on her desk.
"Yes Ma'am!"
"That's nice to hear, because today we're taking an English exam!" she quickly whipped a blank sheet off of her desk and smiled brightly as the class groaned in unison. "What? Hey, now don't give me that, I'm pretty lenient when it comes to how many exams I give out so get your pencils ready!" She said sternly, making the class laugh slightly.
"I'm in trouble! I'm the absolute worst when it comes to essays!" Akina whispered.
"You'll do fine." Hope whispered back as she got her blank sheet.
"The subject is on the paper, I expect two pages front and back by the end of the period… begin." Mrs. Tetsuya signaled and scanned over her class, seeing the common frustrated face blended in with sleeping ones, and working ones. Though what she did not expect was to see a dazed look on her prized student. "Hmm…" She looked at Hope worriedly for only a moment then took her seat behind her desk.
A while later, several demons were going about their day surprised by how energetic they were feeling. Surely it was because Tyr was working at a quicker pace than needed and supplying them with enormous amounts of power.
"Wow." Mara flexed her arms. "This getting married business is doing us all some good, I feel like I could kick Bell's butt a hundred times over but…" she thought of Hope then waved her old urges off, despite how tempting they were..
"It is wonderful isn't it?" Hild asked with a smile. "However, I noticed that Lady Hope wasn't with Lord Tyr just a few minutes ago…" She said somewhat worriedly. "Don't tell me she's actually risking the curse and going to school today?"
"Knowing her she probably is." Mara answered.
"Well, then that power rush you're feeling is from Tyr's growing desire for Hope…"
"EH!?" the demon gawked as Hild rose from her chair.
"Well, this could be bad, Hope may be feeling the same way…" She raised an eyebrow in intrigue.
"But… Hope is Belldandy's daughter! She'll have some resistance… right?" Mara asked, full of concern.
"Hope is also Keiichi's daughter, and grew up a human. Unlike her mother who grew up with a goddess's modesty."
"You're not saying…"
"If enough time passes that they are not together, they may just get THAT close!" Hild giggled. "However, even though I am a love demon I don't want their first time to be out of this curse… guess I better cut the fun."
"TCH!"
She glared to the side, Mara quickly cowered but she was not the one the demon queen was glaring at.
The hooded demon Hope had encountered on the bridge stood in Hild's hall and glared back up at the Queen coldly.
"I don't believe you were granted the authority to walk in my hall nor near my headquarters…Ever." She said, clenching her fist that crackled with electricity.
"My apologies Hild-sama…" The figure grinned. "I shall take better notice of your warnings in the future."
"It would do you best to take notice now." She said, snapping her fingers. Suddenly a force surrounded the figure and forced her on her knees. "Remember why you were banished here in the first place."
"Trust me, I have not forgotten…" She said and held a hand to the side of her face, covered in the shadows.
Hild removed the punishing spell and held firm her glare as the figure returned to her feet.
"I'll take my leave then…"
"Hold it." Hild said coolly. "Those creatures and spirits that you have been sending after Hope…"
She returned her glare to Hild.
"Stop it; I won't tolerate any further attacks, or anything that will over stress her. She is of too much importance for a lowly reject like you."
For a moment, the figure shined with dark threatening power, but slowly took leave.
Hild watched after her then sighed before sitting back on her throne. "How dare Kami trouble me by sending me that troublesome fallen goddess as if my wonderful Hell were a prison!" She sighed as she rested her chin in her left hand.
"Hild-sama?" Mara's voice was weak.
"Hmm?"
"You do care about Hope don't you?" Her eyes sparkled, scaring the queen slightly. "Um… of course not, I just want Hope to not have to worry about those little beastie things anymore so she can focus more on protecting herself from my power!" Hild giggled menacingly, though Mara was still knew the real reason.
"I see, abusive love?" She asked happily. "That means we'll take it easier on her… right?"
"Wrong!" Hild stated. "I'm too sadistic! The torment shall go on forever!" She giggled in delight.
Two hours later…
Hope stared out the window boringly and sighed, her foot tapping and spinning her pencil between her fingers. "Tyr…"
"Pencils down." Mrs. Tetsuya called.
"Eh… EH!?" Hope panicked when she saw her paper, for the past two hours she had written Tyr's name all over both sides of her paper.
"So Hope, how'd you do?" Akina asked as Mrs. Tetsuya began to walk around and collect papers.
"NNG!" Hope's eyes widened and she quickly took off one of her earrings. "Well…" She threw it down, the moment it hit the floor, everything stopped. Akina perfectly froze in place along with everyone else. "That's the first time I've used magic for a selfish benefit…" Hope sobbed. "No… No time for crying, this time spell will only last for half an hour." She said and quickly jumped out of her desk to get clean sheets of paper from Mrs. Tetsuya's desk, however, she couldn't find them. "Oh no! Where… where are they?"
"Top drawer on the right…"
Hope looked up, she recognized the voice and blushed in shame as she took her papers and returned to her desk. "I… I'm sorry…"
"Don't worry about it, I heard."
"About… me and Tyr?" Hope asked.
"Hmm… he's on your mind now isn't he?"
"Like a song that I can't get out of my head… It's maddening because I want to hear it… I want to see him now." She said irritatingly as she grabbed her head.
"Well … the only way to make a song get out of your head, is to think of another one."
"…"
"You only have twenty seven more minutes."
"Ah!? Right!" Hope quickly went to work, but paused for a moment. "Thank you… Onee-sama."
Later when the Lunch bell tolled, Akina and Nauthiz looked on sadly as Hope quickly left the classroom. "I really hope that she'll be able to break that curse soon." Akina sighed.
Nauthiz looked down. "I hope that she will be able to break the curse."
Tyr waited impatiently at the end of the bridge, pacing back and forth with his eyes fixed on the gateway. "… Where are you…"
"KIYAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"Eh?" Tyr looked up, but again similar to an earlier event ended up on the ground seeing stars.
"I didn't use the charm right…" Hope said aloud then got to her feet. "Um… Tyr? Where are you?"
"Right here…"
"Eh?" She stared around blankly, and nearly screamed when she felt the ground rise under her feet.
"You're standing on me." Tyr said as he did a one armed handstand and looked back up at her.
"Tyr! I'm sorry!" Hope quickly jumped off his back.
"What took so long?" He asked as he got to his feet. "Seemed like a week passed by."
"I know what you mean." Hope groaned. "I'm sorry Tyr; I messed up on an exam and well…" She noticed then the fixed look on his face. "Tyr…?"
"Hmm? AH! Sorry!" He waved it off. "Let's go home."
"Okay, but I can only stay for a little while then I have to go back." Hope said as she began heading towards his castle.
"What!?" He nearly shouted. "There's more school!?"
"Tyr, what's wrong?"
He looked at her then rubbed his forehead. "We can't do this… whenever you're not around me I feel like I'm going insane! All I can think about is you and I want you more and more!"
Hope blushed and looked down. "Can we… talk about this…?" She looked to the side, noticing all the demons that had stopped to stare at them.
"Uh…" Tyr blushed and quickly grabbed Hope's hand, transporting them to their small apartment.
"… Thank you." She smiled. "But I felt the same way, when I was writing my exam in my English class I blanked out and wrote your name all over it, thousands of times! It felt like I was waiting for something exciting to come, but the time kept dragging."
"Then don't go anymore, you don't need some earth education to live in Muspelhiem." Tyr said.
Hope looked up at him and frowned. "Tyr, this is my last year of high school, I've waited for this for years and next semester I'm finally going to get to go to Nekomi Tech like Momma and Poppa."
He looked at her for a moment, shocked with himself. "I… I'm sorry, I didn't…" His eyes widened and he glared at his hand. "This damn ring!!" He growled and tried to yank it off with his teeth, ignoring the sharp pain the snapped at him.
"Tyr!" Hope panicked and yanked his hand out of his mouth.
"It's amplifying our own selfish desires, but my feelings are ten times worse because I'm a half demon! I want only for myself! I don't even care about your own desires!"
Hope looked down and blushed. "That… that's not true, it's the same."
"Eventually…" He growled in frustration. "…we'll grow to hate each other because of these rings."
"We're finally together, but because we can only think of each other, we can't think of others, our friends and family, the people of Earth and heaven…" She held Tyr's hand. "And Hell."
Tyr's frustrated expression faded into worry.
Hope looked back up at him, and smiled slightly. "…Remember that time…"
"Huh?" He looked at her completely puzzled.
"When we were training…? You sure were a little meanie back then!" She laughed.
"Hey, this is serious! Don't change the subject and remini… hey I was not!!" He huffed, though when he thought about it. "Well… maybe, but you were a spaz!" he poked fun at her.
"Could you blame me? You're the one who froze me in place then carried me off to heaven over your shoulder like a rag doll."
"Orders are orders!"
"Rambo!"
"Daddy's Girl!"
They both stared at each other for a moment, snickered, then fell back laughing.
"To be honest," Tyr coughed while trying to break from his laughter, "That time had to have been the best time of my life!" He laughed. "Till' that point, I was a solo god, I wouldn't train with anyone else because I didn't want them to be my… my…" he couldn't stop laughing for some reason.
"Equal?" Hope finished for him as she wiped a few joyful tears from her eyes.
"Yeah!" he nodded. "But you know you can't get stronger without someone to practice with. So… I guess I owe my strength to you!"
"You guess?" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah! I guess!" he grinned proudly until Hope caught him in a headlock.
"You jerk!" She laughed. "You KNOW you got stronger because of me! Admit it! Come on!"
"Agh! Okay, okay!" He tapped the floor with his hand so she would let him go.
"Hah! I win!" Hope cheered victoriously then stared down at him as he tried to catch his breath, with his head resting in her lap. "You're still the same meanie…"
He looked up at her with a frown again.
"But I'm glad." She blushed and looked to the side for a moment. "Because well…"
Tyr sat up and looked at her, unknowing to them both that their rings were crackling with electricity.
"Oh you know!" she slapped him on the shoulder.
Tyr smiled and held her hand. "I'm glad you're still a daddy's girl too…"
She smiled gently then cringed at the snap she felt on her finger. "Ow!"
"Ggk!" Tyr stared down at his ring to see it cracking until it snapped off of his finger. "It… It came off!"
Hope looked as her ring snapped off too and cheered. "We broke the curse!"
Tyr caught her hand and shook it like they just won a game. "Hell I knew it! There's nothing we can't beat!"
Hope blushed and pulled him torward her.
"Eh….Mm?" His eyes widened.
Hope kissed him then pressed her forehead up against his. "… I may still be a Daddy's girl, but instead of shaking hands, I'd rather kiss you, meanie."
Tyr smiled slightly and looked to the side shamefully while Hope giggled at him for blushing.
Meanwhile on the bookshelf…
"Aww…" Mara sighed happily.
"I can't think of anything that would make this scene more perfect!" Hild added. "My curse turned into the perfect confession of love!"
"But how were they able to break the rings?" she asked.
"Simple." Hild slid on her Dr. Bryn glasses. "The rings of Beowulf were created to make two people that hate each other fall in love with one another for all eternity. However, Hope and Tyr have been in love from the start, the rings really had no purpose other than forcing them to stay together all the time and driving them mad."
"… That's why you wanted me to get the rings in the first place?" Mara sweat dropped.
"Yes, too bad the fun ended a little quickly!" She giggled, making Mara trip over. "But I knew they'd break the curse soon enough… I'm glad for them."
"Ah… EH!?" Mara gawked.
Hild tilted her head and smiled. "Such a lovely aura that forms around them when they are together… can you see it Maa-chan?"
Mara looked down at them, not at first, but then she saw the soft blue aura that surrounded them.
"I hope they get married soon! Then I can sway Hope into becoming a demon!" She chimed happily. "And maybe my little Urd too!!"
"I wouldn't count on it…"
Later that day….
"Well, I guess I'd better get back home." Hope looked down humbly, as Tyr stared to the side, trying not to appear humble as well.
"Looks like it… but um, I'm sure that now you can drop down and visit anytime you want… and I'll try and come see you as often as I can so there's no problem."
She looked up at him and smiled. "I guess… you're right."
He smiled back and blushed when she stood up on her tiptoes and whispered something into his ear. "Ah…"
She looked at him for a moment, almost telling him it was okay since there were other demons standing around and started her way over the bridge.
"… Damn." He grumbled until he saw a few demons eyeing her, and one that even got the nerve to make a move.
"Hey, now that you're not married to that half demon I'll show you what a full demon can…" His sleazy intro was cut short when Tyr dashed up the bridge and between them, eyeing the demon down with his fiery eyes.
"Th… thanks Tyr." Hope sighed in relief until he spun around and hugged her.
"I love you too."
"…!" She turned completely red.
"A real demon or god can say that as loud as he wants and anywhere he wants!" He smiled then opened a portal behind her. "At least, you gave me that sort of strength."
"Tyr…"
"… Now get going, you'll be late for dinner." He shoved her through the portal and closed it off. "…"
"Uh…" several had stopped to stare in awe or surprise from the moment.
"WHAT!?" He barked, making them hastily continue on their ways.
Later on Earth…
Kioshi trotted out of his school, a happy smile on his face until he neared the gates. "… Onee-sama won't be here today." He thought, and his head sunk as he continued on his way.
"Why so low? You looked better when you were skipping."
Kioshi grumbled and looked to the side, and his eyes widened in shock.
"Did you have a good day at school?" Hope asked.
Kioshi dropped his case and smiled happily. "ONEE-SAN!!" He hugged onto her knees tightly. "It's you!"
"It's me!" Hope nodded and mussed his hair.
"I missed you So much!" He sniffled.
"Hey, I was only gone for a day!" She smiled and held him back a little so she could kneel down and rub the tears from his eyes.
"It felt longer!"
"…" She gave him a hug and picked up his case. Kioshi laughed slightly at how childish he was and took his bag and held her hand as she began walking home. "Perhaps… Tyr and I were able to break the rings power because of our love for each other, but… also because we love our family and friends so much. Kioshi desperately wanted me to be by his side, even though I was only gone for a day." She thought as he smiled up at her and held her hand tight.
"I love you Onee-san!" He chimed.
"I love you too."
~* A Fan Author's Worthless Rant* ~
Again, sorry for the long wait… been busy with finals and holidays and such… not really much to report here and I'm sorry if I did not meet your expectations… but it is simply too soon for Hope and Tyr ^^ *giggles*
Tyr: GRRRR!!!
Ahem… ^^;; The last little bit was just added on today *2 -3 -04 * because I felt a little more was needed from where we left off with Tyr, hopefully part 25 will roll out quicker than this one did ^^;; afterwards, let's just say… you thought you'd seen it all.
See ya next time!