.hackGODDESS
by SmkViper
Proof readers/editors: Sehet Xaui, Greybolt, Gen, Eponine, Cholene
Copyright
.hackGODDESS © 2003 SmkViper
Oh My Goddess! © Kosuke Fujishima
Japanese Language Version © Kodansha Ltd.
English Language Version © AnimEigo, Pioneer, Dark Horse
Project Dot Hack © Project Hack, Bandai, TV Tokyo, Comptiq
.hackGODDESS is a fan fiction work based off the
Oh My Goddess! and Project Dot Hack universes. It
is not affiliated with Kosuke Fukishima, Kodansha Ltd.,
or Project Hack. And resemblance to any person, living
or dead, is purely coincidental.
Author's notes:
Text in are a character's thoughts.
Chapter 4: Beach Trip
"Beach day!" yelled Shinobu as she jumped on top of a sleeping Keiichi.
"Ow, what the…" groaned Keiichi as he was pinned by his would-be assassin. "Shinobu…what are you doing up so early?" Keiichi asked.
"Because we're going to the beach today!" she replied with the energy only a 2-year-old could muster at 7 in the morning.
Keiichi glanced over at the door to his room and noticed Urd standing there in her robe, looking like she had been woken up in a similar manner.
"Next time we go to the beach, Shinobu gets to sleep with you guys the night before, she kept me and Skuld awake late last night and jumped on us both this morning," said Urd. "I'm going to take a shower to wake up, call me when breakfast is ready."
Belldandy tried to stifle a giggle as her older sister plodded off to the bathroom. "I guess I better get breakfast started, why don't you and Shinobu pack for the weekend. I'll call you when it's ready."
"Ok, Bell, thanks. C'mon squirt, we have to pack you some clothes."
Keiichi reached into his closet and pulled out a suitcase to put his and his daughter's stuff in for the weekend. The goddesses didn't need to pack clothing since they could always materialize whatever they needed, and any other things they wanted to take could be magically stored.
"I'm glad we don't have to have Bell and her sisters pack in suitcases or we would have to rent a truck to carry all the stuff they would bring," Keiichi mumbled to himself as he got dressed.
He threw in the typical assortment of clothes a guy would bring on a weekend trip, three changes of clothes (one was extra in case a set got wet), a swimsuit, nightclothes, and his bathroom essentials. He walked over to the girls' bedroom and knocked to make sure no one was in the room. Hearing no response, he opened the door and started packing some clothing for Shinobu.
"Hey Shinobu, why don't you pick out a few toys you want to bring with you for the weekend," said Keiichi.
"Ok," she replied brightly and proceeded to pick out a couple of stuffed animals, two or three children's books (one of which was titled the "Big Picture Book of Super-Natural Beasts", given to her by Belldandy, who had gotten it from her mother) and a crystal that was a toy meant to help god children work on their telepathic skills.
"Shinobu, we can't take all of those with us, we don't have enough room. Why don't you pick out two items to take? We'll have plenty of things to do at the beach," said Keiichi with a smile on his face.
Shinobu screwed up her face in what looked like intense concentration, and finally decided on the "Big Picture Book of Super-Natural Beasts", and her favorite stuffed toy, a plush angel she had named Snowball.
Keiichi carefully packed these items in with the clothes, closed the suitcase, and carried it back to his room. At that moment Belldandy said it was breakfast time and went to go get Urd, Skuld, and Kenaz.
Shinobu and Keiichi went out to the main room to a wonderful traditional Japanese breakfast and sat down, waiting for the rest of the family to show up. Once everyone was gathered around the table they discussed their plans for the upcoming weekend.
"Well, we should get to the beach house I rented just before lunch, so we can eat and unpack before heading down to the beach to spend the afternoon. I also have tickets to the aquarium so we can go there on Saturday," Keiichi suggested. "We should leave Sunday open to spend some time on the beach before packing up and heading back here."
"How about a BBQ tonight?" suggested Belldandy. "You did a great job cooking last time we had one Keiichi."
"I hadn't thought of that, but it's a great idea. We'll just have to stop by the store on the way to pick up something to grill and I'll pack the grill in the back of the car."
"Can I bring Banpei and the submarine attachment?" asked Skuld.
"I suppose so, as long as you don't make me ride it," replied Keiichi. Even though he could swim now, thanks to Belldandy teaching him at the local pool, he was still not confident enough to go out far in the ocean.
"And I want to bring my chemistry set," said Urd.
"As long as you don't make anything that is permanent and you always have an antidote with you," replied Belldandy.
"Geez, you guys are no fun," mumbled Urd under her breath.
Soon after, breakfast was finished and Keiichi was cleaning up while Belldandy prepared box lunches for everyone. Urd went off to pack her potions and chemistry set while Kenaz helped Skuld pack her tools and mecha parts since he really hadn't unpacked yet.
"So, um, Skuld, um…are you still mad at me?" asked Kenaz.
"Well…I guess not, as long as you don't do anything like that again," replied Skuld.
They spend a few more minutes in awkward silence, putting various tools and parts in Skuld's pocket dimension, which was a god's personal dimension used to store what ever they wanted. It definitely saved on storage space and made traveling a lot easier.
"Skuld?" asked Kenaz, trying to break the silence.
"Yeah?" she replied.
"What are Banpei and the submarine attachment you were talking about at breakfast?"
"Oh, Banpei is a robot I built shortly after coming to Earth that does various tasks around the house and helps detect and drive off any demons that want to cause us trouble. He's kind of my pet project. The submarine attachment I made a month or two afterwards. I called the first version 'Deep Six' and had Keiichi test it out for me. It looks kind o like an oversized jet-ski but it can submerge. I added an oxygen filtration system to it about a year ago that removes oxygen from the water and stores it in tanks so the riders can breathe while underwater."
"Sounds like fun, how many people can ride it?" asked Kenaz.
"Only two, though I haven't used it recently, it will need to be fixed up before we can ride it. Hey, that gives me an idea; you want to help me fix it up after we get to the beach? I'm sure its software could also use an upgrade. We…could take it out afterwards if you like," said Skuld.
"Really? That would be great!" said Kenaz, so eager at the prospect of improving one of Skuld's inventions that he didn't notice her hesitation in asking and the slight smile she displayed after he accepted her offer.
They quickly finished packing and went out to the main room to see Belldandy bringing out the last of the lunches.
"Are you two ready to go?" asked Belldandy.
"Yeah, we are, do you need any help taking those out to the car?" asked Kenaz, pointing towards the lunches she was carrying.
"That would be great, thank you," replied Belldandy with a smile.
Thirty minutes later, they were all crammed into Keiichi's small car that he had purchased once Shinobu was born. Urd was in mini form because the car only had five seats and there were six of them going. They stopped by a store on the way to pick up some meat and vegetables for the BBQ later that evening.
They arrived at the rented beach house an hour later and began to unpack. Belldandy, Keiichi, and Shinobu took the master bedroom, Urd and Skuld picked the second largest bedroom, and Kenaz took the smallest room. After unpacking and eating lunch, they got changed into their swimsuits and walked to the beach for the afternoon.
Kenaz couldn't stop stealing glances at Skuld in her swimsuit when he thought she wasn't looking as they headed down to the beach. Urd noticed this with a grin and walked over to him.
"Like what you see, lover boy?" asked Urd with a sultry grin on her face as she hugged Kenaz from behind.
Kenaz's nose sprung a leak as he tried to push Urd off of him. Skuld noticed her sister's antics and ran over to pull her sister off.
"Urd! Cut it out, you're bothering Kenaz!" Skuld said.
"Fine, fine, can't stand a little joke can you?" said Urd as she let go and walked off towards the beach.
After claming a spot and setting up the grill for use later that day, Belldandy, Keiichi, and Shinobu went tide pooling while the tide was still out. Urd left to "experiment" with some of her new potions while Skuld and Kenaz pulled out the Deep Six and worked on it.
"So, Skuld," said Kenaz while working on some of the software for the sub, "you've been on Earth for what, eight years? I never had a chance to talk to you during that time, what have you been doing?"
"Oh, nothing much, just building mecha, preventing Urd from doing something stupid with her potions, and saving the universe twice."
"Oh, really? I think you need to keep track of Urd better then," Kenaz remarked, pointing to a young man on the beach who was running after a girl, while another girl (apparently his girlfriend) was chasing after him, yelling as loud as she could. Urd was rolling in the sand nearby, laughing hard.
"Grrr…Urd!" Skuld stomped off towards her older sister. "What do you think you're doing? Give him the antidote now!"
"Geez, you're no fun…fine, but only because Belldandy would get on my case afterwards, not because you told me to," Urd replied with a pout.
"I swear, someday she is going to do something she'll regret…" Skuld muttered as she walked back to where her sub was lying in pieces on the beach towel.
Kenaz was chuckling at the scene when Skuld came back. "I see you and your sister get along just as well as you did back in heaven," he said with a grin.
"Oh shut-up!" Skuld said with a glare, before going back to work on the machine. She then got a smirk on her face as something came to her. "You know, Kenaz, in those eight years in heaven, did you ever get a girlfriend?"
"What!?" Kenaz said, a blush coming to his face. "Wh…what ever gave you that idea?"
"Well, you're what, 22 now? Which means you've probably gone to college already. Don't tell me you never found a cute, young goddess you liked."
"Um…no, not really. I, um, never had time to do anything like that. I was always working on homework, or debugging my section of Yggdrasil, or any number of other things. I never really met anyone I liked," Kenaz said, looking down at his hands. "Um…hey, if we're going to ride this thing today, we're going to have to work on it and stop talking!" Kenaz quickly went back to typing, trying to push the conversation out of his mind.
While Kenaz and Skuld debated the finer points of ionic propulsion systems, Belldandy and Keiichi were showing Shinobu the several animals that lived on the seashore. Unfortunately whenever little Shinobu got too excited, the object of her excitement more often then not ended up nice and cozy in its own little ice cube. Belldandy had her work cut out for her thawing out the local oceanic population and repairing the inadvertent damage.
At around five that afternoon, everyone had gathered back at their spot on the beach and Keiichi and Kenaz grilled the food that they had picked up earlier that day. They ate on the beach together while Shinobu messed around in the sand before tiring herself out and falling asleep on the beach towel.
"Well, looks like little Shinobu has finally worn herself out," said Keiichi. "Belldandy and I will take her and most of this stuff back to the house, you guys just bring the rest of it when you come back ok?"
"I just remembered that I have to work on some of my new formulas," commented Urd with a sly smile on her face. "I'll follow you guys back."
Keiichi, Belldandy, and Urd took Shinobu and all of the beach equipment except for the umbrella and towel back to the house with them, leaving Skuld and Kenaz alone on the beach.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked Skuld. "We need to test out those modifications we made to the sub!"
"Alright," replied Kenaz.
They took the sub down to the water and dropped it in once they were out far enough that it could float without getting stuck in the sand.
"Um…how are we both going to ride this?" asked Kenaz. "There only appears to be one seat."
"Don't be silly, there's plenty of room, you sit in front and I'll sit behind you. That's why we added the extra handlebars halfway down the sub!"
"Oh, right. I guess I forgot about that." Kenaz said with a sheepish grin.
He hopped onto the front of the sub, strapped the goggles and oxygen mask on and grabbed onto the handlebars. Skuld jumped on behind him, following suit.
"Ready?" asked Kenaz through the microphone built into the mask.
"Ready!" replied Skuld.
They started out slow, heading out to deeper water on the surface so Kenaz could get a feel for how it handled. After driving the sub around for roughly a half hour they decided to dive and see how well it worked underwater. After diving, they turned on the headlights since the sun had already sunk below the horizon and the ocean was starting to get dark. Fortunately the oxygen filtration system was working perfectly (well, at least it hadn't exploded yet) and they would be able to stay underwater for as long as they wanted, thanks to the onboard fusion reactor that provided power to the sub.
Kenaz slowly followed the ocean floor as he headed out to sea. After a while they came upon some coral reefs that were teeming with ocean life. The coral glowed brilliant shades of orange, blue, and green under the sub's headlights as the schools of brilliantly colored fish scattered from the intruder to their domain. They spent the better part of two hours out there among the fish and other sea animals, amazed at the color and variety of plants and animals that made their home in the reef. Finally, they decided it was time to head back to the beach.
"Hey Skuld, hold on tight, I'm going to see how fast this thing can go after we surface!" Kenaz said.
He brought the sub up to the surface and pointed it towards the shore before opening the throttle and they took off at top speed, the wind and sea spray flying by them. Even though it had taken them almost a half hour to get to the reef underwater, it only took them ten minutes to get back on the surface at top speed. Once back at the beach, they dried themselves off with the towels and picked up the rest of the stuff left on the beach before heading back to the house.
Once back at the house, they found Keiichi and Belldandy sitting together on the deck, just enjoying each other's company as they watched the sea glittering in the moonlight.
"Welcome back Skuld, Kenaz," said Belldandy. "Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah we did! The sub worked well and we went out and explored the reef off shore, it was really great!" replied Skuld with enthusiasm.
"Well, you two go get washed up, you don't want to go to sleep after being out in that seawater so long," said Belldandy.
Both Skuld and Kenaz headed back inside so that they could get a shower in before heading to bed.
"Keiichi, I'm glad that Kenaz is here now. It's the first time I've seen Skuld act like herself since she heard about Sentaro," said Belldandy quietly.
"I know, it's nice to have her back to her old self. You don't think…?"
"She certainly acts like it around him doesn't she?" replied Belldandy with a slight smile on her face.
After taking her shower, Skuld went back to her room and quietly got into bed, trying not to wake Urd, who was sleeping in the second bed in the room.
"Kenaz sure has changed since I saw him last," Skuld said quietly to herself. "He doesn't pick on me any more and is much better with computers now. And that ride out to the coral reef was nice, maybe we can go out again tomorrow after the aquarium visit." Five minutes later Skuld was asleep in her bed, a slight smile on her face.
Meanwhile, Kenaz was having similar thoughts as he lie in bed. I'm glad Skuld isn't so bratty anymore and that she doesn't hate me anymore for those stunts I pulled back in school. I also liked that sub she built; we got to see some amazing stuff in the ocean today because of that. I hope we can go out again tomorrow… He was also sleeping soundly shortly thereafter.
A few miles away, a certain demoness was pacing back and forth in her lair, looking a little ticked off.
"Those goddesses! Disappearing on me when I had spent all week thinking of a way to get back at them. I spent all morning setting everything up, but when I get to the temple, are they there? No! And they don't even come back all day!"
At that moment a lesser demon that looked like a camcorder with wings and a tail chose that unfortunate moment to walk in. It looked up at its mistress and twittered to her in its own language.
"What do you want?!" snapped Mara at the demon that had disturbed her.
It twittered back to her, backing away slightly at her tone of voice.
"Oh really? You saw where they went huh? Well then come here and show me." Mara grabbed the demon's tail and plugged it into the large TV in the room. On the TV she saw her rivals leave the temple and head to the beach by car.
"Why didn't you come get me earlier when they left?" she asked with a glare.
The demon shied away from her slightly and replied back with a meek sounding warble.
"Oh, well I suppose it was a good idea to follow them to find out where they were staying. But next time tell me the moment they leave! Now go watch them again, I need to come up with a new plan!"
It nodded quickly and ran out of the room to carry out its mistress' orders.
"Well, so you decided to take a little vacation, huh Belldandy. Then you won't be under the protection of all those wards you have around the temple. A prime opportunity to strike!" Mara sat down and began to plan her next move.
An hour and a half later she suddenly stood up. "That's it! I'll make you regret ever coming to earth!" she loudly proclaimed before flying out the door and into the night towards the beach.
by SmkViper
Proof readers/editors: Sehet Xaui, Greybolt, Gen, Eponine, Cholene
Copyright
.hackGODDESS © 2003 SmkViper
Oh My Goddess! © Kosuke Fujishima
Japanese Language Version © Kodansha Ltd.
English Language Version © AnimEigo, Pioneer, Dark Horse
Project Dot Hack © Project Hack, Bandai, TV Tokyo, Comptiq
.hackGODDESS is a fan fiction work based off the
Oh My Goddess! and Project Dot Hack universes. It
is not affiliated with Kosuke Fukishima, Kodansha Ltd.,
or Project Hack. And resemblance to any person, living
or dead, is purely coincidental.
Author's notes:
Text in are a character's thoughts.
Chapter 4: Beach Trip
"Beach day!" yelled Shinobu as she jumped on top of a sleeping Keiichi.
"Ow, what the…" groaned Keiichi as he was pinned by his would-be assassin. "Shinobu…what are you doing up so early?" Keiichi asked.
"Because we're going to the beach today!" she replied with the energy only a 2-year-old could muster at 7 in the morning.
Keiichi glanced over at the door to his room and noticed Urd standing there in her robe, looking like she had been woken up in a similar manner.
"Next time we go to the beach, Shinobu gets to sleep with you guys the night before, she kept me and Skuld awake late last night and jumped on us both this morning," said Urd. "I'm going to take a shower to wake up, call me when breakfast is ready."
Belldandy tried to stifle a giggle as her older sister plodded off to the bathroom. "I guess I better get breakfast started, why don't you and Shinobu pack for the weekend. I'll call you when it's ready."
"Ok, Bell, thanks. C'mon squirt, we have to pack you some clothes."
Keiichi reached into his closet and pulled out a suitcase to put his and his daughter's stuff in for the weekend. The goddesses didn't need to pack clothing since they could always materialize whatever they needed, and any other things they wanted to take could be magically stored.
"I'm glad we don't have to have Bell and her sisters pack in suitcases or we would have to rent a truck to carry all the stuff they would bring," Keiichi mumbled to himself as he got dressed.
He threw in the typical assortment of clothes a guy would bring on a weekend trip, three changes of clothes (one was extra in case a set got wet), a swimsuit, nightclothes, and his bathroom essentials. He walked over to the girls' bedroom and knocked to make sure no one was in the room. Hearing no response, he opened the door and started packing some clothing for Shinobu.
"Hey Shinobu, why don't you pick out a few toys you want to bring with you for the weekend," said Keiichi.
"Ok," she replied brightly and proceeded to pick out a couple of stuffed animals, two or three children's books (one of which was titled the "Big Picture Book of Super-Natural Beasts", given to her by Belldandy, who had gotten it from her mother) and a crystal that was a toy meant to help god children work on their telepathic skills.
"Shinobu, we can't take all of those with us, we don't have enough room. Why don't you pick out two items to take? We'll have plenty of things to do at the beach," said Keiichi with a smile on his face.
Shinobu screwed up her face in what looked like intense concentration, and finally decided on the "Big Picture Book of Super-Natural Beasts", and her favorite stuffed toy, a plush angel she had named Snowball.
Keiichi carefully packed these items in with the clothes, closed the suitcase, and carried it back to his room. At that moment Belldandy said it was breakfast time and went to go get Urd, Skuld, and Kenaz.
Shinobu and Keiichi went out to the main room to a wonderful traditional Japanese breakfast and sat down, waiting for the rest of the family to show up. Once everyone was gathered around the table they discussed their plans for the upcoming weekend.
"Well, we should get to the beach house I rented just before lunch, so we can eat and unpack before heading down to the beach to spend the afternoon. I also have tickets to the aquarium so we can go there on Saturday," Keiichi suggested. "We should leave Sunday open to spend some time on the beach before packing up and heading back here."
"How about a BBQ tonight?" suggested Belldandy. "You did a great job cooking last time we had one Keiichi."
"I hadn't thought of that, but it's a great idea. We'll just have to stop by the store on the way to pick up something to grill and I'll pack the grill in the back of the car."
"Can I bring Banpei and the submarine attachment?" asked Skuld.
"I suppose so, as long as you don't make me ride it," replied Keiichi. Even though he could swim now, thanks to Belldandy teaching him at the local pool, he was still not confident enough to go out far in the ocean.
"And I want to bring my chemistry set," said Urd.
"As long as you don't make anything that is permanent and you always have an antidote with you," replied Belldandy.
"Geez, you guys are no fun," mumbled Urd under her breath.
Soon after, breakfast was finished and Keiichi was cleaning up while Belldandy prepared box lunches for everyone. Urd went off to pack her potions and chemistry set while Kenaz helped Skuld pack her tools and mecha parts since he really hadn't unpacked yet.
"So, um, Skuld, um…are you still mad at me?" asked Kenaz.
"Well…I guess not, as long as you don't do anything like that again," replied Skuld.
They spend a few more minutes in awkward silence, putting various tools and parts in Skuld's pocket dimension, which was a god's personal dimension used to store what ever they wanted. It definitely saved on storage space and made traveling a lot easier.
"Skuld?" asked Kenaz, trying to break the silence.
"Yeah?" she replied.
"What are Banpei and the submarine attachment you were talking about at breakfast?"
"Oh, Banpei is a robot I built shortly after coming to Earth that does various tasks around the house and helps detect and drive off any demons that want to cause us trouble. He's kind of my pet project. The submarine attachment I made a month or two afterwards. I called the first version 'Deep Six' and had Keiichi test it out for me. It looks kind o like an oversized jet-ski but it can submerge. I added an oxygen filtration system to it about a year ago that removes oxygen from the water and stores it in tanks so the riders can breathe while underwater."
"Sounds like fun, how many people can ride it?" asked Kenaz.
"Only two, though I haven't used it recently, it will need to be fixed up before we can ride it. Hey, that gives me an idea; you want to help me fix it up after we get to the beach? I'm sure its software could also use an upgrade. We…could take it out afterwards if you like," said Skuld.
"Really? That would be great!" said Kenaz, so eager at the prospect of improving one of Skuld's inventions that he didn't notice her hesitation in asking and the slight smile she displayed after he accepted her offer.
They quickly finished packing and went out to the main room to see Belldandy bringing out the last of the lunches.
"Are you two ready to go?" asked Belldandy.
"Yeah, we are, do you need any help taking those out to the car?" asked Kenaz, pointing towards the lunches she was carrying.
"That would be great, thank you," replied Belldandy with a smile.
Thirty minutes later, they were all crammed into Keiichi's small car that he had purchased once Shinobu was born. Urd was in mini form because the car only had five seats and there were six of them going. They stopped by a store on the way to pick up some meat and vegetables for the BBQ later that evening.
They arrived at the rented beach house an hour later and began to unpack. Belldandy, Keiichi, and Shinobu took the master bedroom, Urd and Skuld picked the second largest bedroom, and Kenaz took the smallest room. After unpacking and eating lunch, they got changed into their swimsuits and walked to the beach for the afternoon.
Kenaz couldn't stop stealing glances at Skuld in her swimsuit when he thought she wasn't looking as they headed down to the beach. Urd noticed this with a grin and walked over to him.
"Like what you see, lover boy?" asked Urd with a sultry grin on her face as she hugged Kenaz from behind.
Kenaz's nose sprung a leak as he tried to push Urd off of him. Skuld noticed her sister's antics and ran over to pull her sister off.
"Urd! Cut it out, you're bothering Kenaz!" Skuld said.
"Fine, fine, can't stand a little joke can you?" said Urd as she let go and walked off towards the beach.
After claming a spot and setting up the grill for use later that day, Belldandy, Keiichi, and Shinobu went tide pooling while the tide was still out. Urd left to "experiment" with some of her new potions while Skuld and Kenaz pulled out the Deep Six and worked on it.
"So, Skuld," said Kenaz while working on some of the software for the sub, "you've been on Earth for what, eight years? I never had a chance to talk to you during that time, what have you been doing?"
"Oh, nothing much, just building mecha, preventing Urd from doing something stupid with her potions, and saving the universe twice."
"Oh, really? I think you need to keep track of Urd better then," Kenaz remarked, pointing to a young man on the beach who was running after a girl, while another girl (apparently his girlfriend) was chasing after him, yelling as loud as she could. Urd was rolling in the sand nearby, laughing hard.
"Grrr…Urd!" Skuld stomped off towards her older sister. "What do you think you're doing? Give him the antidote now!"
"Geez, you're no fun…fine, but only because Belldandy would get on my case afterwards, not because you told me to," Urd replied with a pout.
"I swear, someday she is going to do something she'll regret…" Skuld muttered as she walked back to where her sub was lying in pieces on the beach towel.
Kenaz was chuckling at the scene when Skuld came back. "I see you and your sister get along just as well as you did back in heaven," he said with a grin.
"Oh shut-up!" Skuld said with a glare, before going back to work on the machine. She then got a smirk on her face as something came to her. "You know, Kenaz, in those eight years in heaven, did you ever get a girlfriend?"
"What!?" Kenaz said, a blush coming to his face. "Wh…what ever gave you that idea?"
"Well, you're what, 22 now? Which means you've probably gone to college already. Don't tell me you never found a cute, young goddess you liked."
"Um…no, not really. I, um, never had time to do anything like that. I was always working on homework, or debugging my section of Yggdrasil, or any number of other things. I never really met anyone I liked," Kenaz said, looking down at his hands. "Um…hey, if we're going to ride this thing today, we're going to have to work on it and stop talking!" Kenaz quickly went back to typing, trying to push the conversation out of his mind.
While Kenaz and Skuld debated the finer points of ionic propulsion systems, Belldandy and Keiichi were showing Shinobu the several animals that lived on the seashore. Unfortunately whenever little Shinobu got too excited, the object of her excitement more often then not ended up nice and cozy in its own little ice cube. Belldandy had her work cut out for her thawing out the local oceanic population and repairing the inadvertent damage.
At around five that afternoon, everyone had gathered back at their spot on the beach and Keiichi and Kenaz grilled the food that they had picked up earlier that day. They ate on the beach together while Shinobu messed around in the sand before tiring herself out and falling asleep on the beach towel.
"Well, looks like little Shinobu has finally worn herself out," said Keiichi. "Belldandy and I will take her and most of this stuff back to the house, you guys just bring the rest of it when you come back ok?"
"I just remembered that I have to work on some of my new formulas," commented Urd with a sly smile on her face. "I'll follow you guys back."
Keiichi, Belldandy, and Urd took Shinobu and all of the beach equipment except for the umbrella and towel back to the house with them, leaving Skuld and Kenaz alone on the beach.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked Skuld. "We need to test out those modifications we made to the sub!"
"Alright," replied Kenaz.
They took the sub down to the water and dropped it in once they were out far enough that it could float without getting stuck in the sand.
"Um…how are we both going to ride this?" asked Kenaz. "There only appears to be one seat."
"Don't be silly, there's plenty of room, you sit in front and I'll sit behind you. That's why we added the extra handlebars halfway down the sub!"
"Oh, right. I guess I forgot about that." Kenaz said with a sheepish grin.
He hopped onto the front of the sub, strapped the goggles and oxygen mask on and grabbed onto the handlebars. Skuld jumped on behind him, following suit.
"Ready?" asked Kenaz through the microphone built into the mask.
"Ready!" replied Skuld.
They started out slow, heading out to deeper water on the surface so Kenaz could get a feel for how it handled. After driving the sub around for roughly a half hour they decided to dive and see how well it worked underwater. After diving, they turned on the headlights since the sun had already sunk below the horizon and the ocean was starting to get dark. Fortunately the oxygen filtration system was working perfectly (well, at least it hadn't exploded yet) and they would be able to stay underwater for as long as they wanted, thanks to the onboard fusion reactor that provided power to the sub.
Kenaz slowly followed the ocean floor as he headed out to sea. After a while they came upon some coral reefs that were teeming with ocean life. The coral glowed brilliant shades of orange, blue, and green under the sub's headlights as the schools of brilliantly colored fish scattered from the intruder to their domain. They spent the better part of two hours out there among the fish and other sea animals, amazed at the color and variety of plants and animals that made their home in the reef. Finally, they decided it was time to head back to the beach.
"Hey Skuld, hold on tight, I'm going to see how fast this thing can go after we surface!" Kenaz said.
He brought the sub up to the surface and pointed it towards the shore before opening the throttle and they took off at top speed, the wind and sea spray flying by them. Even though it had taken them almost a half hour to get to the reef underwater, it only took them ten minutes to get back on the surface at top speed. Once back at the beach, they dried themselves off with the towels and picked up the rest of the stuff left on the beach before heading back to the house.
Once back at the house, they found Keiichi and Belldandy sitting together on the deck, just enjoying each other's company as they watched the sea glittering in the moonlight.
"Welcome back Skuld, Kenaz," said Belldandy. "Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah we did! The sub worked well and we went out and explored the reef off shore, it was really great!" replied Skuld with enthusiasm.
"Well, you two go get washed up, you don't want to go to sleep after being out in that seawater so long," said Belldandy.
Both Skuld and Kenaz headed back inside so that they could get a shower in before heading to bed.
"Keiichi, I'm glad that Kenaz is here now. It's the first time I've seen Skuld act like herself since she heard about Sentaro," said Belldandy quietly.
"I know, it's nice to have her back to her old self. You don't think…?"
"She certainly acts like it around him doesn't she?" replied Belldandy with a slight smile on her face.
After taking her shower, Skuld went back to her room and quietly got into bed, trying not to wake Urd, who was sleeping in the second bed in the room.
"Kenaz sure has changed since I saw him last," Skuld said quietly to herself. "He doesn't pick on me any more and is much better with computers now. And that ride out to the coral reef was nice, maybe we can go out again tomorrow after the aquarium visit." Five minutes later Skuld was asleep in her bed, a slight smile on her face.
Meanwhile, Kenaz was having similar thoughts as he lie in bed. I'm glad Skuld isn't so bratty anymore and that she doesn't hate me anymore for those stunts I pulled back in school. I also liked that sub she built; we got to see some amazing stuff in the ocean today because of that. I hope we can go out again tomorrow… He was also sleeping soundly shortly thereafter.
A few miles away, a certain demoness was pacing back and forth in her lair, looking a little ticked off.
"Those goddesses! Disappearing on me when I had spent all week thinking of a way to get back at them. I spent all morning setting everything up, but when I get to the temple, are they there? No! And they don't even come back all day!"
At that moment a lesser demon that looked like a camcorder with wings and a tail chose that unfortunate moment to walk in. It looked up at its mistress and twittered to her in its own language.
"What do you want?!" snapped Mara at the demon that had disturbed her.
It twittered back to her, backing away slightly at her tone of voice.
"Oh really? You saw where they went huh? Well then come here and show me." Mara grabbed the demon's tail and plugged it into the large TV in the room. On the TV she saw her rivals leave the temple and head to the beach by car.
"Why didn't you come get me earlier when they left?" she asked with a glare.
The demon shied away from her slightly and replied back with a meek sounding warble.
"Oh, well I suppose it was a good idea to follow them to find out where they were staying. But next time tell me the moment they leave! Now go watch them again, I need to come up with a new plan!"
It nodded quickly and ran out of the room to carry out its mistress' orders.
"Well, so you decided to take a little vacation, huh Belldandy. Then you won't be under the protection of all those wards you have around the temple. A prime opportunity to strike!" Mara sat down and began to plan her next move.
An hour and a half later she suddenly stood up. "That's it! I'll make you regret ever coming to earth!" she loudly proclaimed before flying out the door and into the night towards the beach.