Part 2
Little Lost Soul 1 - Origins
Everyone immediately became serious. "So basically, if Skuld's invention isn't just badly built, then there IS another goddess on earth…in a human body?" Urd puzzled over this while Belldandy and Keiichi held Skuld back from attacking Urd for the insult to her mechanical genius.
Belldandy looked closely at the screen, "It seems as if this signal is coming from the other side of the world, oh my! Skuld, dear, your invention certainly is powerful!"
Skuld beamed at her big sister's comment, "Yes, yes. As you can see, a very faint signal is coming from here, now we just have to go and retrieve this individu..URD! Be useful and answer the phone!"
Urd sighed and went to get the phone while the others discussed a few possible retrieval strategies, not wanting to simply jump in and scare or upset the person. Urd came back and shrugged, "Well that was the Almighty One. He has traced the signal from Skuld's machine to the individual. He said to leave it to him, whatever that means."
Suddenly, there was a small noise, followed by the sound of yelling. Keiichi looked up to see a person falling from the sky right above him. Needless to say, Keiichi broke the person's fall to the disappointment of Belldandy. Urd was somewhat disappointed as well, but for different reasons. "Hmm, that was a lot less grand than I would have thought. Too bad."
It turned out, to the surprise of everyone but Belldandy, that the mystery person was a 20-something young woman. The way this individual had been talked about, everyone had been expecting to see a child. While Belldandy was once again explaining that the age of the human body didn't make any difference, Skuld made quadruple checks with her machine and beyond any doubt, her soul was that of a goddess. Needless to say, she was somewhat confused as to why she was suddenly on the other side of the world in the company of such a strange group. It didn't help much that the poor girl was being bombarded with questions from equally confused Urd and Skuld.
Belldandy was trying to get them to stop while Keiichi was sulking in the corner since he didn't understand English that well. Belldandy eventually managed to shoo her two sisters away and got the newcomer to herself. Soon, Belldandy came over to Keiichi looking rather upset.
"Ke...Keiichi, I just thought you might like to know what is going on." Belldandy looked back at the girl for a moment and met Keiichi's gaze looking even sadder than moments before. "B...but truthfully I really wanted to leave our young goddess alone for a while since she is upset and prying questions only make things worse."
Keiichi looked back and forth between Belldandy and the rather shaken newcomer. "Young! She has to be in her 20s! I mean she's not old, but she's certainly not a child! I still don't understand what you are trying to tell me!"
Belldandy looked to be on the verge of tears as she replied, "Keiichi, please try to open your mind and let go of any human conceptions of age and time. I will try to explain this to you with an analogy. Yes, she is a child. The body you see before you is not who this person is. It is merely the shell for the soul in this case. You and every other human on Earth are linked with your bodies. She is a goddess and thus isn't compatible with her body. She is rejecting it, in a way like certain human recipients of organs transplants do. The difference is that organ transplant rejections are rejections by the body, causing physical side effects. Her rejection, on the other hand is a rejection of the body by her goddess soul, causing not physical side effects, but mental ones.
She was imprisoned within, whether by some horrible accident or something more sinister, I don't know. That does not change the fact that she is experiencing mental anguish. She knows this, but can't describe the feeling. She hurts all the time. She often feels alone. She has even considered….e…ending her li…li…." Belldandy broke into tears and Keiichi ran up and hugged her. "I…I'm sorry Keiichi. But that poor little thing has never even tasted true happiness. Her soul has not had a chance to mature, and thus she is still a child although her shell has aged past her. I can see it in her eyes."
She suddenly broke from Keiichi's grasp and ran over to the girl. She held her, saying in English, "It will be all right, sweetheart. Open yourself to me. Please little one?" Oddly, it seemed to Keiichi like Belldandy was a big sister to this person in the way they both looked and acted, though they had never met before. Tears flowed out of her eyes, which said more than words ever could. Belldandy stayed there with her for a while, the other 2 goddesses saying nothing since they knew what Belldandy knew. She gripped Belldandy's dress tightly and cried into her shoulder like a child might.
"She's reaching out to her soul," said Urd as she and Skuld walked over to Keiichi. "She is talking with the true goddess inside. I can't believe that such a mistake was made, and this soul was so wrongly placed. This is terrible. And I don't even know how we are supposed to extract a soul. I have a feeling we are not being told everything. I suppose the Almighty has his reasons...but I can't even understand how the soul of a goddess ends up in a human body here on Earth. It just doesn't make sense!" Skuld suddenly bolted for the house with an unusual desire to be the one who got to the ringing phone first. Of course, it wasn't really a mystery to anyone who would be on the other end.
"He….He said that her name is Kylie, our sister. He said it was all his fault, I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me…something about going to show her to her two older sisters but losing her…I couldn't follow it…" Skuld looked quite shaken. She had never heard the Almighty One sound that way. Unhinged…upset. The others were gathered around her, listening with concerned looks on their faces.
Urd turned towards Belldandy and looked at the trapped goddess sitting close to her. Her face was red from crying, and she was still sniffling and clutching onto Belldandy. "Kylie, eh? That seems like a distinctly human name, doesn't it? You don't think her mother….GAH! This just gets weirder by the minute. But setting all that aside, you mentioned he said 'her two older sisters'. I assume that would mean she'd have been born after Bell and I since he referred to all of us as her sisters when Belldandy first spoke to him. Wouldn't we have heard something about it? That she has a name means that her existence was known. This wasn't a mistake…something happened."
The group became silent, each lost in their own thoughts, until the phone rang once again. Urd took it and came back quickly. "We are to go up to heaven and take Kylie with us…he may be able to release her with our help, but only there. Keiichi, I'm sorry but you must remain here, as you probably already knew. Let's go. She shouldn't suffer any longer than she already has." The sisters nodded and were soon gone. Keiichi sat on the grass and starred up into the sky, wondering what was going on.
The Almighty One studied the concerned faces of the three sisters before starting, "I know you are eager to help Kylie, but you three must be made aware of the situation before we can go forward. I am sorry for my earlier attempt at an explanation. This has been a constant source of pain for me ever since my daughter was taken away…punishment for my foolishness.
When Kylie was born, the heavens sang. She was a pure hearted, sweet, loving, gentle, caring, perfect little goddess…taking after her sisters. What is more, she was, and still is, the only half human goddess ever born." Urd gasped, "So then I was right. Kylie has a human name because her mother was human!" The Almighty One nodded, "Yes, Urd. Kylie's mother, Amelia, was…unusual for a human. Her beauty was beyond compare and her mind was razor sharp. There were very few who could best her in anything. Yet, she did not often engage in competition, even if pressed by her peers. She loved being around others and was always cheerful and positive. Many men became enamored of her, but she politely declined every invitation for a date she received. She seemed to be waiting for someone…
When she was alone, however, she toiled with a theory of hers that had been swirling around in her head since she was in middle school. She wanted to find Heaven. She believed that heavenly beings visited Earth from time to time, although they were never detected. Leaning on this belief, Amelia next concluded that there must be portals between Earth and Heaven in order for travel to be allowed. She knew in her heart that there was a way into Heaven, even if it was normally closed to humans. She thus became a scholar of any and all books or writings dealing with Heaven in her quest for an entrance. Even more confusing was how casual she was about it. It was more of a hobby than an obsession, which made the amount of information she compiled on the subject that much more impressive. She was right in certain respects, but as you all know, she had no chance of entering heaven, no matter how hard and long she tried.
In order to pass between Heaven and Earth, you must have heavenly blood inside of you to interact with the Yggdrasil system and create a portal. Humans can not do this and without Yggdrasil, even gods and goddesses can not, as you three have experienced firsthand.
Her unusual pastime did, however, get the attention of Heaven, even if she did not know it at first. I was informed of Amelia when she was still a child, simply because she was a curiosity, but because of this, I began watching her and the strangest and most unexpected thing happened. As the years went by and she grew up, I began to care deeply for her in a way I never thought possible. At first, I steeled myself against this new feeling and vowed never to act on it. Despite this vow, I could not stop watching her. Then, one day the worst possible thing happened. She was marked for death.
Her time was up and I knew it. As her friend carelessly ran out into the street after an apple that fell from her shopping bag, things seemed to move in slow motion. Amelia saw the car coming and dropped her own bag. She frantically bolted towards her friend, arms outstretched to push her out of harms way. At the last possible moment I could bear it no longer and I fell to Earth as fast as I could, grabbing her just before the car hit her and throwing her towards her friend, whom Amelia had already saved. I was quick and thought I got away unseen, yet I could tell by the look in Amelia's eyes afterwards that she had caught a glimpse of me, which should have been impossible for a human. I had to meet her, and so one night, when she was alone, I visited her. She smiled when she saw me and said simply, "You've been watching me for quite a while haven't you? I knew you'd reveal yourself one day."
The day Amelia gave birth she was taken to Heaven. Since the baby inside of her carried the blood of the Heavens, she was able to pass through the portal she had looked most of her life for. She was so happy, and yet she knew what I did without having to be told. She did not have long to live. Sadly, the strain of carrying and giving birth to a goddess was too much for her human body. She just wanted to live long enough to hold her child.
She did, but she died only moments after seeing her daughter for the first time. She kissed her daughter's forehead and named her Kylie with her last breath. As I held my third daughter for the first time, I had conflicting emotions. Joy and grief, all mixed together into one single moment.