All major characters (c) 1996 Kosuke Fujishima, meaning Urd, Skuld, Belldandy and K1 are not mine, just the situations they are thrown in.
A/N: This is my first shot at an AMG related fic. Although the story line follows fairly closely to the manga at the beginning, that is all that will be related to it.
Further notes that should be noted are that if you HAVE NOT read the manga past volume 19, you should NOT read this story, as it is a tangent off a major plot line in volumes 19 and 20, but involve different situations that didn't happen in the manga.
I honestly have no idea how long this fic will be, it depends on whether or not I believe it's finished, which may be soon.
Happiness' End
End of Chapter 12:
Belldandy saw Keiichi and welcomed him home with her traditional hug and kiss. He could never get tired of it, but he worried about the day she might be forced to leave him.
He looked over again at the sisters and Mara lying on the floor and shook his head.
"What's this all about? This seems pretty strange, even for some of the things that I've seen happen around here," Belldandy could see the confusion and worry in his eyes. She knew that he didn't like really hurting others, that was one of the many reasons she loved him.
"Come in Keiichi-san, all of us shall explain at dinner," she took his hand and led him into the temple. Urd and Skuld soon followed, wiping tears from there eyes.
As dinner was served, all of the goddesses soon told their story of what had happened while he was away.
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Chapter 13: Payback
Keiichi sat looking at the three goddesses he'd lived with for a while now with a look of utter confusion. Skuld and Urd had finally calmed down from their hysterical laughing fit at the expense of Mara.
Belldandy served each of them a cup of tea while Urd pulled out a bottle of saké and a cup.
"Well?" Keiichi wanted an explanation for the odd event that he witnessed after coming home.
"That was nee-san's idea of returning the favor of what Mara did to everyone, especially us," Belldandy answered quietly.
"You remember Peorth, right Keiichi?" He nodded. How could he forget such an odd time in his life. The fourth goddess was a handful. "Remember what I did after she messed with one of my potions?" Another nod. He remembered seeing Peorth fondly attached to a little garden gnome that was in the back. Suddenly, things seemed to click.
"And you did that to Mara?"
"Well…sort of. You see we did a few things differently, but the idea behind it is the same." With that sentence, Urd began to explain in detail about her plan and how it came to play.
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Urd and Skuld were bickering over the morning shows while Belldandy watched the two, sighing at their fight. Things had indeed returned to normal. The two hadn't argued in a while due to the specific situations, but now that seemed to be back to normal too. The bickering, the insults, and then the fighting with magic and machinery.
She wished she at least had someone to talk to when they were being irate like this. Maybe even Peorth. Of course she preferred to talk to her Keiichi, but he had to work. She also noticed that he seemed very happy to be working again. She knew that he was disheartened at not being able to use his hands, which he loved to do. She was happy that he was happy.
After a few more minutes of bickering, things between the eldest and youngest sister started to progress to the next stage, which was when Belldandy put her foot down. She told the two to play a game of Jan-Ken to decide who got the color and non-color televisions in the house. Urd won against Skuld, paper beating out rock. She, of course, claimed the color TV, making Skuld use the black and white set in Keiichi's room. A TV she should be very familiar with since she scrapped it for pieces for her inventions almost on a weekly basis.
Both seemed resigned to what they were forced to do, but Belldandy wouldn't budge in her stance against the violence they wrought upon each other.
The afternoon slowly passed and the three goddesses had a quick and light lunch prepared by Belldandy. She usually made light lunches in order to have them hungry for a larger dinner. Most of the time it worked, even with her Keiichi.
After lunch, things seemed to fall into routine as Urd began to drink and Skuld worked on fixing Sigel once again. Belldandy wished she would get Sigel running again, she enjoyed the little machines company. Her interactions with Banpei worried her though, she seemed a bit rough on him, even though she knew that he liked her.
It was shortly after 4 pm that all three immediately stopped what they were currently doing and went to the door. Each stepped outside and looked around the serene landscape, but each also knew that something evil lurked somewhere in the shadows.
"Come out Mara, we know that you're here," Belldandy said in a louder voice than normal, which also seemed a tad irritated. Suddenly, a small figure stepped out from the tree limb it was sitting on and grinned.
"My, my. Aren't we a bit worried about the appearance of lil ol' me?" Mara knew they were up to something to be so ready for her presence, but she had no idea of what they could be plotting.
Mara then noticed that all three of them were smiling rather warmly at her, which was confusing. "Come on out Mara, stay a while, pull up a bottle of saké."
She knew Urd and the kid were up to something, but she could never tell what Belldandy was thinking. She always seemed so carefree and thoughtless at times. Mara examined them warily. She didn't trust them, not one bit. She grew to her full size and floated to the middle of the temple grounds looking over the three in an attempt to grasp the situation. No use in hiding if the enemy knows where you are right?
Mara could've sworn she saw Urd's grin get bigger, but it was probably her eyes playing tricks on her. She rubbed her eyes and looked at them all again. She noticed that nothing had really changed around them, but she failed to notice the little machine behind her that was slowly walking towards them. She was thinking about how try to outsmart the three and soon took a fighting stance and put her hands up. That is, until she heard a certain kind of music playing behind her.
Mara froze as she realized the three had only been a slight distraction to get her full attention. Once again they had tricked her into a plan they had previously made. Why didn't she ever learn?
Mara soon couldn't control her body and began dancing to the beat of the disco music being played by Banpei. Belldandy looked to Urd and they both nodded. Both broke into a silent chant, and when it was finished Mara was surrounded in a small oval shield. She had no idea what they were planning to do, but it was starting to worry her.
After that process was complete, Urd once again summoned the giant statue of the six gods of poverty that she had made in the past for Keiichi. Although this time, it was for a greater purpose than to just bring some good luck. With a rather evil looking grin, Urd pulled out a vial and slowly started walking to were Mara was being held.
"Ha! What good is that going to do? You know I won't drink it, even if forced."
"Oh we know Mara, we know. That's why I made some corrections to it," Urd said as her smile grew. She was almost at the shield now, which worried Mara beyond belief. A few more steps, and Urd stopped right in front of Mara. She tapped a small space on the field and it opened slightly. She opened the vial, poured the contents in with Mara and sealed the hole again.
Soon, Mara was surrounded by a thick purple smoke. She shuddered as she realized that Urd had changed the oral medicine into a form of airborne drug. She knew it would be pointless to try to hold her breath, since after she would pass out, she would inhale the substance anyway. Resigned to her fate, Mara took a few deep breaths and choked a little. It smelled like a mix of lavender perfume and cow manure. As the smoke cleared, she opened her eyes and looked out from the field. Immediately, she beheld the figure of the massive statue.
The field shimmered out of view and Mara was about ready to take off, but she felt strange as she looked at the statue. It was as if it was calling to her. She felt odd and even sensed a hidden longing for the statue. She cursed under her breath as she realized what exactly was going to happen.
A few minutes later, the potion took full effect, which made a love stricken Mara run at the statue with open arms. As soon as she touched the large charm, however, electricity coursed through her body and she fell back, passing out.
Thus, was the beginning of a very long, arduous and repetitive process of continual touching of the statue, pain, and passing out.
Urd and Skuld were hooting and rolling around on the ground laughing at her the entire time. Belldandy seemed to be a bit saddened for Mara, but deep down she was glad the demon was getting her share of justice after what she had done to her family and loved ones.
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"And that's about it K-boy. You came home about 50 or so minutes later and saw the scene."
Keiichi looked at the three rather shocked, "And you had this planned for how long? This surprises me that all three of you would work at something so diligently for having to wait an extended period of time."
Skuld looked thoughtful as she put a finger to her chin, "Hmmm…I think Urd came up with the idea sometime just after onee-sama was cured of what Mara gave her…"
Keiichi looked at her and then at Urd, "You mean, almost half a year ago now? Sheesh…you two must've been pretty angry."
"Oh, it was just a little form of payback we decided to give her. That week that you spent sulking around the place and avoiding all contact was when we added a few sensors to the temple. The brat said we'd be able to know if anything was moving in the temple, or around it by a good eight or so feet." Skuld glared at Urd and nodded.
Keiichi was utterly dumbfounded. They had went to such great lengths…for revenge?
"Say…isn't it your policy to forgive and forget?"
"Not always, Keiichi-san. We give forgiveness to those that seek it, and Mara will never ask us for it. My sisters decided to take things a bit further. I was only involved in the weak barrier and spells that they told you about earlier. Otherwise, this was all their doing," Belldandy looked at both of her sisters with a grin. While she was against it, she really appreciated it at heart. She knew that she would finally be able to rest a little bit easier knowing that Mara had paid for her crimes. She knew it was unbefitting for a goddess, but she didn't care.
Belldandy loved the man beside her and would never try to intentionally hurt him in any way. Mara had broken that part of her silent vow, which angered her tremendously, but also made her very depressed. She was happy that Keiichi had forgiven her, and was not a shallow person; but then again, he never was.
The temporary silence was broken by Keiichi, "So uh…how long are you going to leave her like that?"
"Oh, yea. We never thought of the time span now did we?" Urd looked thoughtful and grinned. "Let's just leave it until morning and tell her to beat it."
The others seemed to agree to that thought and finished dinner with various conversations. Thankfully, Urd was sober and not running herself silly trying to catch Keiichi and fight off Belldandy. The night seemed normal aside from the occasional otherworldly shriek of pain followed by a loud thud as Mara hit the ground yet again. The cycle was still continuing. The goddesses decided on putting a sound barrier on the house so they could get to sleep easily.
Things seemed to be looking up, as everyone went their separate ways around the house. About three hours later, everyone turned in, blissfully unaware of the demoness' predicament outside.
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Belldandy couldn't sleep. She knew sleep was only a show, for she rarely needed it, but it helped her fall into the routine that Keiichi had followed all his life. It was only absolutely necessary when she used far too much energy and succumbed to the recharge state she goes into.
She quickly and quietly rose from her futon, left her room and entered Keiichi's room.
She enjoyed watching him sleep when she couldn't sleep. She always enjoyed being near him, for it seemed he had a calming affect on her. She smiled as she watched the young man sleep peacefully in the night. She had often wondered what it would be like to share his company at night, but she never really had the chance to experience it. The few times she had, Keiichi was always injured and she never really thought anything of it.
Belldandy slowly sat down next to his futon and gazed at his features. They seemed so peaceful and wonderful when he was asleep, almost like an angel. Belldandy smiled at that thought, for she truly knew what an angel looked like, but she couldn't help the comparison.
Whenever she came here to watch her loved one and reflect on certain things, she had always left before long, but this night was different. She wanted to be close to him, even if he didn't really approve of it.
'Grant me this one wish,' was all she thought as Belldandy slowly slid next to Keiichi in his futon. She rest her head on his shoulder area and smiled.
To her surprise and delight, his arm soon moved around her and she heard him mumble her name in sleep and smile. She, too, smiled and drew herself close to him before drifting off to sleep.
She knew answers would be wanted in the morning, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to be close to the man she loved, her Keiichi.
A/N: Apologies for typos, etc etc. I have a good plot in store for the ending, but I'm having a hard time putting the idea into words. Updates may be far between, as class and being stumped at how to write this next passage plague me.
Thank you for the reviews the few of you that have first donated your opinions. It's interesting getting input from normal people or other authors about a story. Keep 'em coming if you read on.