Chapter 7

Day turned to night and made a week as the sun's afternoon rays quickly turned to sunset at Flower Point, where the two goddesses, one fairy, and one human discussed the seriousness of the situation with the Judgment Gate. Belldandy placed her final words in the conversation to end it, and stood up looking outside to see the change in day. Flowers closed their petals curling up in response to the night's coming, while birds finished the final notes of their song as a new overture began with the introduction of the fireflies that floated near the stream.

"I hope that this discussion has been of much use to you, and lightened the thought that there is still hope for the both of you as there was for Belldandy and I." Keiichi spoke sitting at the table with a cup of green tea in his hand. From the window, Belldandy watched Aurora, who sat with a faint smile on her face but no words in response except a soft 'Thank you'. "It's such a beautiful place you have here."

"Yes it is. It's a wonderful place to just sit and relax the mind purging it of all thoughts that might ruin one's conscience…" Aurora stood up from the table, "Have you gotten the chance to see the place within your week of staying here?"

"Not entirely, and I would like to see more." Belldandy's face lit up with a radiance rivaling such of the sun.

"I could give you a tour. Celestin is coming with Urd, Skuld, and Peorth." Mythalia said pointing to the four that walked along the path to the house, "I'll go and let them in."

"Mythalia may I speak with you for a short while?" Belldandy inquired of the goddess that began to exit the room with a pensive expression. "It's nothing bad I just have a few questions first."

"Hmm? I…I suppose if it's that urgent. Would you mind inviting them in Aurora?"

"Not at all." Aurora walked through the hallway to the door, as Mythalia and Belldandy nodded at each other. Suddenly, the four visitors entered the room while Aurora and Celestin began speaking as if old friends.

"Let's go Belldandy…" Mythalia watched in surprise and astonishment walking out of the room. Selective memory. That was their method of erasing his memories. They couldn't erase his past since it's already been set in stone, so they must have altered thoughts that he has associated with me. Everything with Aurora has dealings with me…like the cutting and pasting of pictures to alter their meaning. That's what they have done. She closed her eyes as they walked through the beautifully painted forest of greens and violets among pinks and oranges behind the house, where the bridge remained crossing over the stream.

"It must be hard Mythalia…" Belldandy sat on the benches that rested beneath the cherry blossom tree. "He doesn't remember a single thing about you…"

"I chose that he did not remember a thing about me, and it tears me to pieces. I say that I prefer for him to live without memories of me and by his side I would stand, but it is too much for me to bear."

"They chose select memories to eliminate from his mind."

"There is a chance to recover those memories isn't there?" she began to shake her body losing its sense of stability as she quickly fell into the seat next to Belldandy, "I can't bear it at all. I'm selfish, and nothing more than that."

"No you aren't Mythalia. It's love. That's what it is all about making sacrifices for one another. What was your other option?"

"To be banished to earth with all of Celestin's memories of me recovered, but I couldn't do that."

"There was an ulterior motive in the choice you made. You wanted to protect those here in the heavens without realizing it yourself. At that point your heart must have been focused on no one but Celestin. Think about it though. If you left for Earth and remained there, I'm sure they would have taken your powers as well, and we'd be in turmoil here with the enemy watching our every move. Sacrifices…"

"…Maybe…" she brought her knees to her chest looking over as Belldandy spoke.

"You shouldn't look into the past too much. The future is much more important; your paths of life will cross with Celestin's, I'm sure of it, and the relationship will be renewed with what you have built in this time and the time after all of this. It's not a lost cause, the decision you made. If I were in that situation I'm sure I would have made the same decision. That's all I needed to speak of on the situation at hand; oh, and whatever you do don't let Urd interfere. You know her; she loves this kind of stuff, but this relationship is different. It existed before, but now must come to life once again."

"You're right. Everyone has been telling me the same thing, so there must be a second chance given. Thank you for your support as well Belldandy."

The two goddesses finished their discussion, and returned indoors after a brief tour, while in the room everyone else spoke of the enemy situation at hand. Urd and Peorth brought up interesting comments on the enemy and her possible whereabouts, including information on how to track her down.

"So what is the situation currently?" Aurora asked Peorth, who stood by the window.

"So far there isn't much on her whereabouts particularly. We just know her intentions are the corruption of the system. There have been no records of any meeting between Mythalia and the fairy herself either. Neither has Mythalia told us of anything of such sort."

"This is very serious considering the fact that we were lucky in the last situation of this sort. It makes it worse considering the fact that she has made contact with Mythalia allowing a link to the system." Skuld said.

"If that's the case, the renewal of her license should be declined…" Urd watched Peorth who looked outside the window when she mentioned this possibility.

"However, even if they reject her license renewal, the darkness will still be able to come in contact with her." Keiichi brought up a vital point, "She would still pose a serious threat…"

"Keiichi brings up a good point Peorth." Aurora looked at the man in the shadows, "Celestin…"

"Huh?" he inquired looking up at Aurora, who smiled briefly then turned to face Peorth.

"What do you know of her Celestin? If you remember anything of that incident at all…" Peorth asked walking over to Celestin, and stopping when he emerged from the shadows.

"She's one of great power and ability. Her knowledge of the art of magic is far beyond any I've ever seen before. Even without Mythalia she could control the system if she wanted to, but that would be a direct attack. She prefers to work indirectly if anything, so she would most likely utilize Mythalia's ability if she could. Protecting her from the influence of the darkness will not help either."

"It might help even the slightest in protecting Mythalia. Do you know her name?" Skuld asked, "Maybe if we got the fairy's name we could find out something about her…"

"I could give you her name, but ultimately it would be of no use in the end. When she controlled my mind and I infiltrated the system, she made me destroy the history pertaining to her and replace it with false information." Celestin closed his gray eyes as he leaned against the wall, "Her name is Viviane Melusina…she's better known as Melusina."

"Viviane Melusina?" Peorth asked, receiving a nod from Celestin, "I've only heard rumors about her strength and power. She has the ability to call upon the nymphs of all types as well as the nine Muses. Very dark witchery indeed."

"But what about Mythalia? If she likes the indirect approach, we should keep eyes on her at all times." Aurora stood up looking at each individual within the room.

"Belldandy, Skuld, and myself along with Keiichi have to return to Earth. Belldandy and Keiichi have important exams coming up. Skuld and I plan on looking further into the situation; perhaps Morgan might know something." Urd stated, "We can't stay here and watch her."

"Plus bringing her to Earth might cause a reenactment of what happened the last time with Celestin but on a larger scale." Keiichi pointed out, shrugging his shoulders, "Sorry."

"I'll be working nonstop at headquarters with this business. It's already starting to pile up, and I haven't been gone that long." Peorth said, "That leaves it up to Aurora and Celestin then."

"I might have to back out of this one…" Aurora began, "I have work to do with Peorth and then I must go to the council for an important meeting on this business. Celestin would you mind taking care of Mythalia in our absence…?"

"I think it would…" he began to speak as Belldandy stepped in with Mythalia, who had been humming a song that seemed familiar to Celestin, as he stopped speaking and glanced over at the goddess, who became silent immediately as she turned and saw him leaning against the wall. Quickly diverting her gaze from his, she looked over at Aurora.

"What's going on?" she inquired clueless as to what the discussion was about.

"…It would be an inconvenience to do such a thing…" he abruptly spoke and left the room, "Excuse me." As he passed by, Mythalia caught a glimpse of his eyes, which seemed cold and distant.

"Celestin!" Belldandy called to her former mentor, "Gomen nasai…" she quickly walked out of the room following Celestin to where he was heading.

"What's this all about?" Mythalia inquired, "What did you say to him?"

"Mythalia…" Peorth began, "We have asked Celestin to…"

"To what?"

"To keep watch on you…" Aurora muttered softly.

"YOU WHAT? Do you not trust me? Trust that I can take care of myself…?" Mythalia became enraged an aura of anger surrounding her, and she clenched her fists and tightened her jaw. "Believe that all will go well?"

"It's not that…" Urd said looking hurt by Mythalia's display of emotion, "We trust you entirely. It's Melusina whom we do not trust. Don't take it the wrong way."

"Fine…I would have tried not to, but it's too late."

"Do you know of the peril that our world faces?"

"I am fully aware of that, but…how could you treat me as if I were a little child? Unable to know the difference between good and evil. And Aurora…you of all people…I should have never come back…" Mythalia cried as tears streamed down her face, as she slid open the door and exited.

"Mythalia!" Aurora called to her friend, who had run out the door. "I'll be back. Talk with Celestin. She's taking this all the wrong way…" Taking her coat, she quickly ran out of the house heading in the direction in which Mythalia was flying.