Come Heaven or Hell
Part 2: Secrets and Lies

"Tell me what you see?" Lord Kami asked his young companion as he stood motionless in the dawn sunlight, some half a mile up, invisible to outsiders.

"I see Sunnydale, as it was years ago, before it was destroyed." The younger god shrugged, "How does this help me? I came here to change the past, not get a history lesson."

"Ah, the ageless impudence of youth; how I have missed it."

"Don't mock me old man; you know why I am here."

"You have much of your parents about you. Look beyond why that are, to what they are: ordinary people, willing to hold the line against the Old Ones. No matter how many Hero's and Champions either side have, it has always been the people who decided which way the balance tips."

"So it is people who make the difference?"

"Indeed: they will be tested, but they will come through the other side. We should go before we are noticed: even I would find it hard to explain your presence here."

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Mara waited until Xander was alone before making her presence known.

"Hi, so you must be Alexander Harris." She jumped out from behind a tree as he walked along the road, "The name's Mara; I'm an old friend of Urd's."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Xander eyed the young woman nervously, "What you doing in Sunnydale?"

"I was sent to give you a warning."

"What sort of warning?"

"The 'if you marry Belldandy you'll only end up breaking her heart' kind."

"What?"

"Belldandy is a Goddess, the daughter of Lord Kami himself. You're nothing but a human, mortal. I've seen what happens when mortals get involved with the gods first hand: it's never pretty."

"What do you mean?"

"You're mortal, so one day you will die, leaving Belldandy alone. I know her well enough to know that she will never fall in love again, and so she'll spend the rest of eternity alone. Do you really want to do that to her?"

"I never thought about it like that…"

"It's understandable: Belldandy doesn't want to admit what will happen, and no one else has the heart to force her to face the truth. Not even her farther."

"Then why is Kami-sama allowing the wedding to go ahead?"

"Because he would do anything to make Belldandy happy. You have to understand, that as the daughter of The Creator, she has potentially unlimited power, if she ever learned to control it. Urd may be the daughter of Lord Kami and Hild, but she is too reckless to reach her full potential, while Skuld is too narrow minded."

"I don't know what to say…"

"There's not a lot you can say: you have to stop the wedding before you destroy Belldandy's potential future. You wouldn't want to hurt her like that, would you?"

"No…"

"Then you know what you have to do."

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"I never asked to be sent here." The red-haired woman looked at the last surviving monk, who was crucified on one wall, "All I wanted we to rule my little hell dimension without any interference from Hild. But no: they had to cast me out to this place."

"You…will…never…find…the…Key…" The monk gasped.

"We'll see." The woman looked around, "I need a change of scenery."

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"I'm still not convinced." Xander shook his head, "I trust Bell to tell me if there was a problem."

"Then I see I have no choice." Mara pressed two fingers against Xander's forehead.

"NO!" Urd came running down the road.

"Remember." Mara smiled as a glow emerged from under her fingers.

"What…Bell…" Xander collapsed, unconscious.

"Xander…" Urd lifted the young man up, then glared at the demon, "What have you done?"

"I've unsealed his memory." Mara smiled as she started to walk away, "Let's see how he feels when he learns that Belldandy has been lying to him all this time…"

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The Bronze was packed, but Buffy, Faith, Willow, Tara and Belldandy had managed to find a table on the upper level where they could sit with some degree of privacy.

"So where are you having the hen-night?" Faith asked Belldandy as the band started playing.

"I haven't really thought about it." the young goddess shrugged, "It's a very human thing."

"Well maybe, considering you're marrying a human, you should find out a little more about our ways?" Faith had a mischievous look in her eye, "I know this great bar in L.A. you can sing, right?"

"Well, yes…" Belldandy's reply was interrupted by screams and the sound of braking glass.

Buffy and Faith leapt to their feet and looked over the balcony to the dance floor below: a tall, red-haired woman was standing in the middle, grinning madly as she tossed the second doorman through the fire-exit.

"On three?" Buffy asked.

"No, let's just kick her ass!" Faith vaulted over the rail and landed behind the stranger, grabbing her by the shoulder, "You got a name I can have them put on your gravestone?" She asked.

"Filthy little creature!" The woman backhanded Faith, sending her flying across the room and into the pool table.

"Hey!" Buffy jumped down, "Want to try that again?"

"Foolish mortal." The woman smiled, "I am Glory…"

Buffy's fist hit the stranger square in the jaw, but to no apparent effect.

"What's the matter snapdragon?" Glory tilted her head to the side as Buffy clasped her bruised fingers, "Did you hurt your hand?"

"Willow, Tara, get everyone out of here." Belldandy stood on the handrail, looking down with the marking on her forehead and cheeks glowing with power.

"At last, something to play with!" Glory looked up, "Give it your best shot, butterfly."

There was a sound like a crystal chime being struck, and the air shimmered, separating Glory from everyone else. She hammered against it several times, clearly growing more and more angry.

"You can not do this to me!" Glory's voice was loud enough to shake the entire building, "I AM A GOD!" She punched the barrier with all her might, smashing it.

Belldandy felt the backlash hit her and was send flying across the room, hitting the far wall with a sickening thud. She tried to stand, but was too shaken to do anything. Glory walked up the stairs, ignoring Buffy, who was helping Faith to her feet.

"Who are you, little Kami?" Glory smiled at the look of shock on Belldandy face, "Oh yes, I know what you are." She lifted the stunned goddess to her feet, "Who are you?"

Belldandy looked round: everyone except Buffy and Faith had left, and the two Slayers looked like they'd been in the wars. Belldandy caught Buffy's eye and nodded, signalling the two of them to go.

"Now what are you playing at?" Glory looked round, relaxing her grip on Belldandy for just an instant.

That instant was all Belldandy needed: braking free of the other woman, she ran to the wall, concentrating as hard as she could.

"Why you little…" Glory reached out, moving at superhuman speed.

Belldandy's finger touched the mirror and the wall, and she disappeared in a flash of light.

"Well know," Glory looked round at the devastation she had caused in under a minute, "maybe there is fun to be had in this town after all…"

She didn't notice the large yellow eyes that watched from the skylight.

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There was a thud as Belldandy hit the floor, totally spent: the emergency teleportation had taken what remained of her strength after being knocked back by the broken barrier spell. She was only thankful that the spell had worked as intended, and she was evidently back home in the temple.

"There you are!" Urd appeared in the doorway. Her face fell, "What happened to you?"

Belldandy stood slowly, looking at the mirror she had arrived through: her normally perfect hair was a mess, and there was blood dripping down from a cut on her lip.

"Who did you mess with that could do that?" Urd asked.

"Something that called herself Glory." Belldandy looked round, "Where's Xander?"

"That's another thing." Urd looked worried, "Mara was here…"

"What did she do?"

"She unsealed his memories. What did you do that had to be sealed away?"

"It…it was a very long time ago."

"Well, he's not woken up yet, so you have some time to work out how you're going to explain what ever it is." Urd shrugged, "I'll call the systems administrators office and see if I can find any information on this 'Glory' you ran into."

"Ok." Belldandy turned around, pressing her hands up against the window, "Why did Mara do something so spite full?" She asked herself under her breath, "And how will Xander react?"

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Xander's mind was a chaotic mix of memories, some clearer than others. The most predominant where those of Belldandy, but they were jumbled, out of order.

The only clear image was a sliver right with a red gemstone.

To Be Continued…