I do not own the Ah! Megami sama / Oh! My Goddess series

"Come forth, Laevateinn!"

A pair of dark feathered wings shot out of Surt's back as a figure started to emerge. The entity had a series of black eerie markings that covered most of its rather pale skin. Bright, fiery blonde hair and a pair of red cat-like eyes added more to its otherwise terrifying appearance. When fully emerged, a spiraling flame covered the lower part of its apparently masculine body.

The others were suddenly a bit confused with the sudden development. Demons often had familiars as personal servants and while most of them had bat-like wings, others had them covered with feathers. Some even deliberately changed their familiar's wing shape and color for vanity purposes. Unlike angels, devils weren't restricted to mirror their bond mate's inner self, so those modifications were possible. Even the gender could be chosen, regardless of the host's actual one and this caused most of them to have a female appearance, since demons often preferred them to be like that. They often claimed that it was for the sake of having the more flashy variety of accessories that was available for the female looking familiars, but gods simply refused to believe this and called them perverts.

'There's something off about this creature...' thought Ansuz while she tried to understand what exactly she was staring at. 'Normally, I would've called it a familiar, but I somehow can't get the idea out of my head that it's an angel. Wait a second... Belldandy had purified a devil before... Could this be the opposite...?' Looking at the demonesses, they also seemed to have no idea of what was going on or they were very good at acting.

"What are you doing, Surt?" asked Hild. "I told you fighting is going to be difficult in these tunnels. Weren't you paying attention?"

"I know that," replied the Eldjotunn calmly. "Any large scale spell will be our doom. So instead I'll have to focus all of my power into a single spot." Putting his arm in front of him, almost as if he was reaching for something, he waited. With a grin on his face, Laevateinn started to glow as the wings on the angel's back began to slowly turn into a crystalline substance. Immediately they started to twist around in a spiral, while the rest of its body transformed into a gemstone. The top most part of the dark helix opened up, forming a Y shaped object that greatly resembled a sword's hilt, with the angel's converted body located at the bottom.

The blade-less sword floated in the expecting hand of Surt and the very moment the Eldjotunn grabbed it, a bright flame erupted and created the missing blade.

The weapon itself was majestic, but for Ansuz, it was terrifying. Getting hold of an angel egg was one thing, but this was far worse than that, since the demon had apparently obtained something that was classified as top secret in Asgard. Only two of them were ever made before they were deemed to dangerous by both the councils and all plans for creating more were abandoned. The first one, Gungnir, had belonged to her late father-in-law and the second, Mjolnir, still served as Thor's angel. It was a wise decision, as the latter was so powerful that her brother-in-law needed a pair of special gloves to safely use Mjolnir whenever it changed into its hammer form.

It was mind boggling how their most secret project had become bonded with this demon and served him. It was feasible that the demons may have somehow gotten their hands on the missing Gungnir and reverted it back into its original state, but it was unlikely. Each angel had some personal characteristics that had nothing to do with its host and this Laevateinn didn't seem to be a re-purposed Gungnir. Could it be that there were more of them? The reports clearly indicated that only two were officially produced, but she couldn't remember if there had been others under development when they canceled the project. In that case, someone must have finished one, before the demons stole it. Considering that it was probably an illegal activity, it was unlikely that they would've reported the theft.

There were rumors that the Intelligence Service of the demons was good, but it still didn't explain why their leader, Skrymir, would hand over such an item to the Eldjotunn. He was the one in charge of Jotunheim and the Frost Division of the demonic forces. In essence, he was one of Surt's primary competitors in the infernal chain of command, so it made absolutely no sense why he'd simply hand over such a prized possession to Surt instead of keeping it for himself.

Another thing was that Hild was equally confused by the looks of it and was currently staring at her subordinate with a raised brow. While the leaders of the other infernal realms had a certain degree of autonomy, they were still under Hild's direct control and thus had to submit reports regularly. Especially for matters of great importance like this one. So, if the Daimakaicho herself didn't know anything, then this was handled outside the normal chain of command.

Surt, however, couldn't care less now as the damage was already done - his superiors had seen his little trump card. Instead, he had to prioritize and focus on the current situation, as some of the new snakes had managed to to get too close to them. A single slice from Laevateinn was more than enough to cut them in two since the sword concentrated all of his power in a single spot. Even better, their wounds continued to burn for a while, making regeneration impossible until the flames went out. One after the other, the snakes were left in pieces, as the group marched through the next set of tunnels that eventually lead them to the Pit.

At least it didn't take long, given that this time they were flying instead of walking. The sword was also a much safer choice compared to most attack spells, as it avoided any collateral damage since it only harmed their pursuers upon direct contact.

"The access shaft is right ahead of us!" shouted Hild over the loud hissing screams of the wounded serpents. "Just a few more seconds and we're safe!"

"But the whole thing is completely open!" objected Ansuz. "They can still follow us all the way to the throne room!"

"Do you really think that we're that stupid?" asked the Daimakaicho, feeling a bit insulted by her goddess friend. "There are multiple blast doors between the bottom of the Pit and the throne room. It's a good thing that before we went into the caverns, I've set the security system to engage as soon as we pass them on our way out. The minions of Nidhogg may be persistent, but they can't break them. They'll have to give up sooner or later."

Indeed, as soon as they shot out of the Pit, the emergency protocols kicked in, shutting the doors one after the other. Dozens of snakes tried to pass, but they were far too late. Despite that, the search party continued their flight without slowing down at all, in order to get as far away from their pursuers as possible. In a few seconds, more than a dozen heavily reinforced shutters separated them from any immediate danger, putting an end to their ordeal.

It had been a hectic and extremely risky operation that even the bravest among them wouldn't like to have to repeat anytime soon. They remained quiet until they'd reached the very top of the access shaft where Niflheim's throne room was located.

The first one to break the silence was Ansuz, who still had trouble accepting the facts of the situation she'd just witnessed. Pointing at Surt, who had just turned Laevateinn back into his original shape, she couldn't help but try to get to the bottom of this. "Hold it right there! Where did you get that angel?"

"Heavens. Don't know all the details and between you and me, I don't care either." Honest as it may have sounded for a demon, the Eldjotunn decided to humor the goddess. It didn't really matter anymore, as the cat was now out of the bag. Going around the subject was only a waste of time anyway.

Turning around to face Hild, the goddess noticed the Daimakaicho's unreadable expression. Most of the time when that happened, it meant a lot of trouble for anyone involved. It was obvious that she wasn't the only one that had a few questions here.

"I would like to know more about that, Surt-kun..." said Hild, as she hit a dangerously low octave. That wasn't a request, but a direct command and one that under no circumstances was meant to be ignored. The Daimakaicho may have a playful personality, but she was the leader of the demons for a reason. Nobody dared to defy her and get away with it, especially when she was serious.

"Ask your roommate... He knows more than me, as a matter of fact." That startled Hild for a moment, before she became very quiet. Seeing that she got his meaning, he turned in order to leave. "Since my job is finished, I'll take my leave."

'Her roommate?' wondered Ansuz. 'What's going on here? I thought that she was living on her own, except her servants, but those probably don't count...'

"I'll decide when your job is over," said Hild. Turning to her second in command, who remained silent during this exchange, she motioned her to come closer. "Hagall-chan, can you take Ansuz to Niflheim's Gate for me? It would be rude to just let her go though the same portal she used before, instead of the official exit. We don't want others to think that we're not good hosts."

Hagall didn't really buy the explanation, but realized that the Daimakaicho wanted to get her and that goddess out of the throne room. Normally she would've tried to object, but given her leader's current mood, it was a much better idea to simply follow the order without further delay. Walking towards Ansuz, she stopped right in front of the goddess and motioned her to follow. "This way."

It was obvious that Asgard's second in command wasn't pleased with this development, but she knew that this was Hild's way of asking her to leave. The situation with the angel was still unresolved, although she doubted that she could do anything more about it at the moment. It was unlikely that the demon was going to give it back without a fight and she wouldn't dare to start something like that in the middle of Niflheim with no backup available.

Just before she stepped out of the room, she heard Hild shouting behind her. "And don't ever come back, you lousy goddess!" While it sounded a pretty harsh thing to say to her friend, the fact that the demoness was also sticking her tongue out in a pretty immature display indicated that she was just being silly.

"Who wants to visit you anyway?!" Ansuz shouted back, sticking out her tongue in imitation of the Daimakaicho.

It was an interesting sight to behold. Two of the most powerful and influential entities in the Cosmos, behaving like little kids. Hagall just silently stared at the exchange while Surt shook his head in a disapproving way. Eventually, Ansuz turned around and followed the blonde demoness to Niflheim's primary Gate room.

As soon as Hild was left alone with the Eldjotunn, she did get serious. "You noticed that this whole mess was the result of sabotage, right?"

"Yes," replied Surt. "The safety nets were cut by a serrated blade in order to let the axe fall all the way to the bottom of the Pit."

"I need to find out who did this."

"That's a job for Skrymir, however," said Surt. "He's the one in charge of the Intelligence Sector, not me."

"We'll have to visit him later," said Hild as she started to walk towards the door as well. "You stay here and make sure that those things down there are gone once the doors open. If not, deal with them."

"Understood," said Surt with a simple nod, before his own curiosity got the better of him. "Um... Where are you going?"

"Who, me?" asked an amused Hild. "Just following your suggestion. I have a few questions to ask a certain... someone. That's all." However as she was about to exit the throne room, she paused for a moment. "Oh! Clean up a little bit since you're staying in here for a while, okay?"

'Clean up?' thought Surt while he inspected the stuff that was left behind from the previous night. Games, cards, several tea cups, bottles of various alcoholic beverages, a table and even two futons were strewn all over the place. 'This mess?! What does she think I am? A butler?'

Still, orders had to be followed and since the nets hadn't been repaired yet, he decided to dump everything in the Pit. After all, let's not have Nidhogg's minions return empty handed to their master. Maybe the infernal dragon would like a brand new tea table, especially now that he burned the interior of his cave with that spell.

XXX

Castle Utgard, Jotunheim

The old, even ancient structure stood proud in the barren, frozen land of Jotunheim, the realm of ice. Originally, Niflheim had been completely covered in snow, but after the creation of the Nidhogg Computing Center, the demons had managed to turn their primary home into a much more temperate one. However, as a way of compensation, it caused the mountainous realm of Jotunheim to transform into an arctic environment. There needed to be a balance between the realms, so in order to warm one's climate, another had to become frozen.

Despite that, the realm played a very important role for demons, as it was the closest one to Asgard, compared to any other that was inhabited by them. As such, it was carefully guarded to prevent the gods from ever invading it and for that purpose they had built several defensive structures in the past.

Of course, in this age such things were utterly useless, long abandoned in favor of mobile command bases in the form of floating ships that allowed the demons to monitor their realms. Most of the old fortresses had been scrapped for raw resources, but Castle Utgard had managed to escape such a fate. Instead, it was completely overhauled from the ground up to accommodate the needs of the Intelligence Sector that was stationed there, alongside the Frost Division.

The members of the latter were most commonly referred to as Jotnar and made up a significant portion of the demons' combat divisions. While it sounded strange that the majority of their troops were in a realm other than Niflheim, it was the proximity to Asgard that made this necessary. For the same exact reason, the location was also ideal for the Intelligence Sector, as most of their spying operations were more easily planned and executed.

Some were concerned that this particular realm had two units, which could upset the balance between the other demonic worlds. In reality, Jotunheim was one of the most desolate realms of all, with very little to offer besides its strategic position. That was the only reason that it was sacrificed when Ymir, the first Daimakaicho, decided to thaw Niflheim and in exchange turn Jotunheim in a freezer.

Even the extremely hostile Muspelhim was more valuable due to its rich abundance of minerals. The only one that was completely useless was the unnamed one, nicknamed as the Lifeless Wasteland. There was absolutely nothing of any importance in that realm, no minerals, no life and it was the furthest away from all the rest. Nobody really knew what to do with it, so it remained vacant and even left without a proper name as a joke. The only reason why it wasn't sacrificed instead of Jotunheim was its remote location which could have turned the entire operation of changing Niflheim's climate into an impossible one.

But that was of little importance for those that lived in Jotunheim since they had become accustomed to the climate. Castle Utgard was a busy place under normal circumstances, but with the recent coup, everyone was on their toes. Regardless of who was the Daimakaicho, their primary job was to monitor the activity of the gods and their systems, as well as keeping an eye on the other demons at the same time. That incident threw their schedules in a loop as the chaos that followed was almost too much to handle. Despite that, they have successfully managed to maintain their operational efficiency, something that greatly pleased their leader, Skrymir.

The demon in question was currently sitting in his sparse office, with hardly a piece of furniture present besides his desk and chair. Being paranoid was part of the job and thus he had eliminated all possible hiding places where one could fit any type of surveillance devices. That gave the room an eerie and even intimidating feeling, which was further amplified by the appearance of its owner. The demon was an imposing figure, with long deep red hair, almost the same color as blood, just like his eyes and an overall height that was well above average. He easily stood out from the rest of his subordinates and few of them even wanted to deal with him, unless they had to.

His professionalism, and his habit of carefully analyzing everything, made his workers very nervous as he liked to pick apart their flaws. He was pleased with nothing less than perfection. His complete lack of humor and tolerance for any misbehavior made things even harder for everyone and especially for those that hoped to get higher in the chain of command.

As he was going though the reports from his operative, someone decided to knock on the office's door. Closing the terminals around him, Skrymir decided to just deal with his visitor as soon as possible. "Enter."

The door opened, revealing one his subordinates who was carrying a folder as well as a transparent bag with a knife inside. Last thing he wanted was to have his superior complain that he had somehow contaminated the sample. "Sir! Here's the report you requested. According to the surveillance systems the damage to the throne room's safety nets was clearly intentional. The profile of the cut matches that of a short notched knife. Our records identified the item as one used in the past by Asgard's Fighting Wings as a standard issue combat knife. We searched in our vault and found a weapon that's identical with that particular model. It is a genuine one that was issued during the administration of Daitenkaicho Odin and had fallen into our hands after a battle. Aside from the item that we've enclosed in the bag, there is the fully detailed hard copy of the report, triple encrypted of course."

"Very well," said Skrymir while he inspected the knife. "I will review the folder later, but for now make sure that everything in Castle Utgard is absolutely impeccable."

"We have an inspection, sir?" asked the surprised demon.

"Worse. Daimakaicho Hild-sama will be most likely visiting us in person because of this incident." Skrymir paused for a second to organize his thoughts while his subordinate was getting restless as his superior continued to glare at him. "I want absolutely no mistakes. Understood?"

"Perfectly, sir!"

"Dismissed."

As the demon rushed to the door, he couldn't see the grin on his superior's face. 'It's time to make a call.'

XXX

Repairing the main temple was a simple task considering that three deities were involved in the process. Especially when two of them possessed first class licenses. While they took their time to see if everything was back the way it was supposed to be, it became apparent that something was amiss.

"Where's Loki?" asked Thor. The trickster god was last seen when an embarrassed Lind kicked him into the temple's debris. However, he had somehow managed to disappear and while that was usually a good thing, in this situation it could become problematic.

"Isn't he inside the repaired temple?" asked a confused Urd. "I didn't notice any teleportation spells or other types of portals."

"Me neither," added Belldandy, who was happy that the building had regained its original appearance. Her missing uncle, however, was a matter of concern, as past experiences indicated that leaving Loki on his own wasn't a very good idea.

The sound of approaching bikes cut that discussion short since there was little doubt about the identity of their visitors. The miniature form of Urd had already warned them that Keiichi's family was on their way, so maintaining a semblance of normalcy was the most important thing right now. Easier said than done, especially with all the deities currently present. Not to mention, Loki who was probably hiding somewhere.

As soon as the two bikes came to a stop in front of the temple's stairs, another vehicle approached and parked right next to them. It was Takano's Datsun, a strange choice for a car, considering that it was a model that was most certainly designed as a racer and not for everyday use. Megumi and Keima, who had gotten off their bikes, joined her at the bottom of the staircase, before they started for the temple itself.

"Hmm... This place looks exactly the same..." said Megumi. "There was nothing strange on the way here as well. What was that sound then?"

"I'm afraid that I have no idea," replied Keima. "But whatever that was, it's not particularly important right now."

"Keima-kun is right, Megumi," said Takano. "Since nothing happened, let's enjoy our visit, right?"

"Alright... You both win..." Megumi relented with a defeated sigh. Maybe she was just overreacting about the whole situation, although there were a few rather weird situations during the last few years. Most of the time she brushed it off, thinking it was all in her head, but it was certainly bizarre.

Once they'd reached the top of the staircase, the group encountered Belldandy who was already waiting for them.

"Hello, everyone!" she beamed while offering a bow to them. "I'm glad that you decided to drop by for a visit. You too Megumi. I suppose that Keiichi is already on his way?"

"Yes, Kei-chan was supposed to follow us, so he's likely to come soon," replied Megumi.

"That's good," said Belldandy. She did briefly considered how to address her new in-laws, considering that they both liked to be called by their names, instead of what they considered to be titles. "Keima-san, Takano-san, please, let's go inside. I've got some tea ready for all of us."

The couple nodded and followed the goddess towards the house. They did wave at Urd who was standing right next to the main temple, although Keima became a bit pale as soon as he spotted her. He still had issues being around women. Most people were afraid of creepy insects, high places, darkness and other things like that. Gynophobia, as it was called, isn't nearly as common as those other ones, but apparently Keima was suffering from a pretty serious case of that. He was terrified from the mere thought of being next to a woman, with the only real exceptions being his wife and his daughter.

Urd waved back at them, although she wondered why the others paid so little attention to them. Obviously they'd met her, but Thor was clearly someone they never saw before. 'Come to think of it, he's still dressed in that old combat uniform... I'd forgotten about that...' Humans were certainly going to give him some odd looks, given his outlandish choice for clothes. Looking beside herself, she was about to tell him to change into something else, only to realize that he was nowhere to be seen. "Uncle?"

"I'm right behind you, Urd," said Thor. He had turned himself into a miniature version and was using his niece as a cover. "I think that keeping a low profile is better in a situation like this. There are less questions involved and that's a good thing."

The goddess of the past was apparently not paying too much attention to what he was saying. Instead, she was giving him the same look that children had whenever they saw a puppy. "Umm... Urd?"

"How cute!" said the overly enthusiastic goddess of the past. "I've got a mini god of thunder!"

"Act your age! You're not a little girl anymore!" shouted Thor, only to be completely ignored as the goddess grabbed him. "Urd..."

She was either not paying attention or deliberately ignored him, while looking at her outfit. "Hmm... I don't seem to have any pocket that's big enough to fit you. So... how are we going to do this?"

"Urd, if you try to pull this one on me again..." warned Thor, but his niece obviously had other ideas. As soon as she reached to tug the front of her dress, the god of thunder decided that enough was enough and raised one of his currently miniature hands skywards. "I summon thee! Lightning!"

Answering to his command, thunder descended from the heavens, striking his intended target.

XXX

Lind watched Peorth and Laguz who were both currently engaged in a game involving a tower made out of wooden pieces. All of them had retreated to the guest room, since Keiichi's parents were right outside and it would've been for the best if they stayed out of the way. At least the goddess of the roses had changed Lind's pants with a new pair that was a few times larger and therefore a lot more comfortable to move.

Skuld was also present in the room as well, but was currently reading her favorite manga. She didn't have the opportunity to finish it yesterday with all the chaos that was going on. Personally, she wanted to go back to making more bombs, but decided to wait until their latest mortal visitors have left.

Lind had seen some of those mangas that Peorth had 'borrowed' from the young goddess, but never got very interested in them. On the other hand, she had no idea what the point of the others' game was, as she hadn't seen anything like it before. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Oh! It's rather simple," said Peorth as she turned to her friend. "All you have to do is to remove one piece at a time without causing the tower to collapse. No magic is allowed, of course, just your hands. Want to try?"

"Is that what you've been doing so far?" asked Lind, as she wondered what they found so entertaining in such an activity.

"Well, I was watching TV in the living room, but we decided that it was for the best to retreat here for the time being," said Laguz, while she removed another piece from the tower.

"You mean that you were hogging the TV all for yourself," pouted Peorth. The blonde goddess was indeed transfixed with the various shows and didn't leave her to watch anything at all. "Such avarice is not fitting for a goddess."

"But it's the first time that I've ever watched TV!" objected Laguz. "I just wanted to see what it was all about..."

'Great, another competitor... As if Urd and Skuld weren't enough to deal with...' thought Peorth with a sigh. She decided to drop the subject, though. After all, there were other ways to have entertain herself on Earth and speaking of that... "Lind are you going to play or not?"

The Valkyrie thought about it, but realized that there weren't many other things to do while they were trying to stay out of the way. "Fine. Seems that we have to wait for a while, so I'll join you."

The instant that the Valkyrie sat right next to them, a loud clap of thunder suddenly erupted outside, shaking the entire house. As a result of that, the precariously balanced wooden tower in front of them collapsed into a pile of small pieces.

"Umm... in this case, who lost?" asked Lind as she looked around the table for answers.

"Urd," said Skuld as she closed her Dobon manga. At least, she had finally managed to finish the latest volume. With that done, it was probably the best to join the other goddesses as well. "Anyone want to play Uno?"

XXX

"Thunder? What's going on here?" asked Megumi. She was rather doubtful of Keiichi's words earlier when he claimed that the previous explosion had been thunder, but this time she was absolutely certain that such was the case.

"I must admit that it's very strange weather," said Keima, as he peered to look outside. He and his wife had just entered the house when the loud noise startled them all. Except for his daughter-in-law who didn't seem to be fazed at all.

Noticing that as well, Takano decided to find more about Nekomi's strange weather patterns. "Does this happen often?"

"Yes, we have thunder falling pretty frequently," replied Belldandy, although the whole truth was that most of them were caused by her big sister, who used them as her favorite weapon.

Megumi was about to argue, but her parents had apparently accepted Belldandy's explanation since they both headed back into the house. 'Am I the only one who thinks that something strange is going on?'

The youngest Morisato joined the rest of her family after a short pause, allowing Urd and a miniature Thor to peer over the short fence that separated the main temple and the house. The goddess of the past was completely covered in soot as her uncle decided that she needed some punishment for her misbehavior.

"So much for keeping a low profile," complained Urd as she gave a rather pointed look at the god of thunder who stubbornly glared her back.

"Tell me that it's my fault now..." said Thor. "What in Asgard's name were you thinking when you decided to pull that prank on me? Besides, you've done this before in the past and it didn't work very well for you then. What made you think it was going to be any different now?"

"I was much younger at that point! Now I'm a lot more cozy. Besides, it was a joke," complained Urd. "No need to drop the hammer at the first opportunity."

The god simply shook his head as he let a long sigh. She was a troublemaker back then and by the looks of it she still was. Perhaps even to the point where it was no longer funny. "Hey! If I had dropped a hammer, then nothing in this region would've been left intact. I'm not that violent!"

"Urd!" shouted a familiar voice from the direction of the temple's staircase, causing the two celestials to turn towards the newcomer. "What was that?!"

"Oh, Keiichi!" said Urd as she waved at him, but the young man wasn't very pleased with her at the moment.

"What was that thunder for? My parents and Megumi are here, judging by the parked vehicles outside. They could suspect something is off," complained Keiichi. To be honest, he was already pretty panicked and anything out of place was enough to make him freak out even more It was already hard that he had to answer the most obvious questions that his parents must have and adding more to the list didn't sound like a nice idea.

"That was me, actually."

Turning to the side, Keiichi noticed a small god that he had somehow missed when he rushed to greet Urd. He seemed an unfamiliar face and Keiichi was certain that he'd never seen him before. But Thor certainly recognized the short mortal that stood before him. He was the one from Loki's photograph, the one that somehow managed to pass the Judgement Gate with Belldandy and became her husband.

Thor decided to assume his original size, causing the mortal to crane his neck upwards to meet the god's gaze. While not exactly as tall Tamiya or Otaki, the red haired god was easily more intimidating than both of them, causing Keiichi to stammer. "H-hello. I'm M-Morisato Keiichi."

"God first class, first category, unlimited license, Thor." Extending his hand in a gesture that was frequently used by the mortals as a greeting, he waited until the young mechanic realized that the god wanted to shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you," said Keiichi as he returned the gesture. "Um... are you a friend of Urd's?"

"No, I'm her uncle," replied Thor. "In other words, we're family."

For a moment Keiichi was confused about that bit of information, since this god didn't really look as old as he would have expected. But then again, he was an immortal and just like Hild, appearance had no meaning for such beings. Even more, if what he had learned in Niflheim was true, then their forms were not their actual ones too. Shaking those thoughts out of his mind, he decided to deal with the situation right now. "I have to go now. My family decided to drop by for a visit and I need to be in the house, so..."

"Go," said the god of thunder. "I can wait outside. No need for raising more questions; I'll talk with you later."

"OK, later then," said Keiichi and turned around to head back into the house.

Turning to Urd, Thor remembered something. "Do you think that we should've told him about Loki? Who knows what he's doing."

"Nah... Although, it's a good idea to start looking for him," said Urd. "With so many goddesses around, he's bound to run into one of them."

"Now that you mention it, you're right..." said Thor with a chuckle. "Talk about a full house."

Not a second later, a series of runes materialized high up in the sky, a clear indication that Gate was about to transfer someone on Earth.

"You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?" groaned Urd as she and Thor stared at the opening portal.

"Sorry. I couldn't help it..."

XXX

If there was something that one could say about the Daimakaicho's house, then 'gigantic' would be very high on the list. It was an entire complex that consisted of several interconnected buildings. Each served a specific purpose, just like most rooms did in normal houses, but in this case the scale was completely different. The garden, for instance, was nearly as big as an entire park on its own.

Of course, such a place required a lot of attention, and for that reason, Hild employed dozens of housemaids to keep everything under control. It was necessary since she was the leader of Niflheim and she had to maintain some standards.

While there was a lot of activity in the building, Hild's inner chambers were completely off limits to even the vast majority of her servants. They were nearly as extensive as a normal house and only a few selected ones had the privilege to go into there, and even then, only on special occasions.

Despite that, this was the destination of the Daimakaicho, who was greeted by most of her servants as soon as she entered the complex. Security was a significant issue and some of those maids were in fact highly trained warriors, completely outside any other chain of command, only taking orders by Hild herself.

A minute or two later, the leader of Niflheim stood before one of the few guest rooms that she had in her own chambers. Most of them were located in a separate building, but for special guests, that simply wouldn't do. Especially if the identity of said visitors had to remain a secret and this one in particular was most likely one of the biggest.

Knocking on the door to announce herself, she entered the room and immediately found who she was looking for. Sitting in a comfortable chair was a man with silver hair and an appearance as ageless as any divine or infernal being. One thing was obvious about him, though. His sigils had the same blue color as with any other god. Although this particular one was supposed to be missing in action or even dead, according to some. Yet he was alive and currently reading through a book with great interest.

Hild really didn't want to deal with him on a typical day, but she had some questions and he was the most likely person who could answer them. The old god was among the most knowledgeable Asgardians in existence, after all. Walking up to him, he finally noticed her and put the book down next to him.

"I see that you enjoyed the copy of the Lord of the Rings I got for you," said Hild as she crossed her arms.

"Indeed..." said the silver haired god as he nodded. "The mortals seem to come up with some interesting concepts once in a while. There was even a character that was loosely based on me."

"Well, that's nice, but to be honest, I'm not here to discuss literature. I have a few questions..."

The god smiled as he leaned back into the chair. "Then please ask them, my daughter."

AN: I would like to offer my thanks to WhoIsAtlas for proofreading this and making the needed corrections.

Additionally I would like to thank everyone that has offered their feedback and support both here and on the Goddess Relief site.

There are several things I'd like to note for this chapter.

Laevateinn is the name of Surt's flaming sword in Norse mythology, while in this case it's an angel that came to Surt's possession. However, this isn't a generic angel, but one of the very few of its kind, a living weapon so to speak.

The other angel weapons are Mjolnir and Gungnir. I did want to use those two as the angels of their respective gods, but at the same time, I also wanted them to have them as weapons and in the end came up with this solution as a compromise.

Now it should be noted that Jotunheim is the land of the Frost and Rock giants (Jotun) in Norse myths, but not actually a frozen realm. That was Niflheim as a matter of fact. In AMG we get a glimpse of what Niflheim was like and I wouldn't call that as a frozen world. The modifications to their realms was another compromise on my part.

Utgard was indeed an area in Jotunheim and translates as "Outyards" and includes a stronghold of the giants. Also, Srymir is indeed associated with it, during a short story when Thor and Loki run into him.

Hild's mansion is a massive complex all by itself, covering a surface area that could fit a few city blocks. So, her inner chambers are the same size as an entire normal house.

I would also want to mention that one of Thor's lines ("Talk about a full house") was a suggestion from Gamera68, an author of AMG stories (currently working on his ongoing Rosario + Vampire story, "A Confession and a Vampire: Reboot").

Speaking of suggestions, the idea about Lind having to choose one from the different types of bacon in chapter 7 originated from HotelKatz, in a discussion thread, over at the Goddess Relief site. Can't believe I missed to mention it on the author's notes in chapter 7.

Finally, me, HotelKatz and IdiAmeanDada have already finished the second chapter for the "Ah! My Star Trek" crossover story and the third is mostly ready as well. For more details about that project and the people involved in it, please check the info on my profile.