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

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

"You still insist on calling me that, even if it means nothing anymore," said Hild as she rolled her eyes. "I really don't like when people try to patronize me..."

The god remained silent for a few seconds, trying to avoid an argument. It was unfortunate, he knew, but unlike his son, he wasn't that willing to give up on that failed marriage. While the Gate's decision for them seemed final, he was too stubborn to accept it, even after the spell that Hild put on herself in order to meet with Tyr once more. Despite his ageless appearance, he was an old god and the ancient traditions were more important to him than some of the recent laws. That was perhaps one of the things he shared with his firstborn son, Thor.

Hild had gone through that conversation far too many times in the past. She appreciated that her former father-in-law didn't want to acknowledge the results of the Judgment Gate, but at the same time it didn't change a thing. Her ex-husband was now with a goddess and that was all that mattered. At least she happened to be Ansuz, as Hild would've been infuriated if anyone else got to take her position. Still, Odin's opinion hardly made her happier. Well, there were instances when it felt good that he still treated her like a daughter, but having seen the Judgment Gate again, brought some bad memories back to her.

Noticing that she started to become tense, Odin readjusted the visor that was currently covering his right eye. For a moment it seemed as he was reading something through the dark glass, before he turned his attention back to the demoness. "You're still the Daimakaicho as it seems. At least nobody lost their lives this time around."

"That was Surt's doing! I told him to be discreet about it, but he never listens!" objected Hild. That was the truth. after all. She had given her former lieutenant explicit orders to avoid any unnecessary deaths during the previous takeover. He made a massacre instead, with half the previous demonic council incinerated and those that remained were too afraid of the Eldjotunn to upset him in any way. Hild shook her head; it wasn't the right way to earn her people's respect. Not that it had mattered much: the previous Daimakaicho and his council weren't all that popular.

Aside from that incident, her remaining term as a Daimakaicho had been a relatively peaceful one. Well, the whole doublet system had been an extremely controversial subject, though in the end everyone came to appreciate its benefits, as they no longer needed to fear for their lives since the use of lethal force was strictly prohibited. It was those successes that eventually made her popular among the vast majority of her subjects. Others had tried some really aggressive methods to gain reputation, only to start up wars with the gods as a result. Hild was the only Daimakaicho that had accomplished much with absolutely minimal loss of life on the demons' side.

"No complaints from me; Fafnir was a really annoying Daimakaicho. Wish I was there when that kid booted him from the throne room," laughed the god. He personally despised that greedy demon with a passion since his nearsighted practices were far worse compared to what Hagall attempted to do just a day earlier. At least the latter hadn't killed anyone in the whole incident, unlike Fafnir who never really cared as long as it was profitable.

"Well... I must admit that begging for his life was somewhat funny." It wasn't every day when someone as vain as her predecessor was reduced to a crying wreck while trying to hide behind her. Surt may have gone a bit too far, but at least it gave the others an idea of what could happen to those who crossed her. "I didn't come here to talk about my position though..."

Before she even had the chance to complete her sentence, Odin interrupted her. "You want to know about Laevateinn, right? Poor Ansuz had a such a hard time trying to understand what happened back there, didn't she?"

"You've been using the security feed again?!" Hild shouted as the god had a bad habit of accessing information that wasn't meant for him. "How did you break into it this time?" added the Daimakaicho with a sigh.

"Oh! That's really simple really," said a smiling Odin. "When Hagall took your position, the surveillance system's password was reset back to the default one. She most likely had forgotten about that little detail and left it like that, something that you have also failed to do as well."

Hild pinched the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes in annoyance. It was a stupid mistake, but one that could be easily corrected. She made a mental note to modify the system to avoid any similar issues in the future. At least the god didn't manage to gain access to anything that was really sensitive. The surveillance system was one of the least important part of Niflheim's security measures. "At least you know what happened."

"Indeed. I just wonder how Tyr manages to sleep next to her, though. Those winglets can be hard to deal with, if they actually managed to wake you up. Most of the time you sleep like a log..."

"My sleeping habits are none of your business!" shouted an embarrassed Hild. "Besides... how dare you spy on me! The Daimakaicho herself!"

"I do no such thing. It just takes forever until you turn off that alarm clock of yours every morning. Just an elementary deduction, my daughter."

The demoness had had enough of this nonsense. Turning around, she marched to the door and was just about to leave the impudent god alone before she paused. Smirking, she realized what was going on here. Changing her mind, Hild hovered back to the god, who in the meanwhile, had returned to his book. "You almost got me." Floating right in front of his face, she glared as her eyes started to glow bright red, while her pupils became like a cat's. "I'll give you some credit for nearly fooling me into leaving. You were expecting that if you were annoying enough you could get me to go away; it didn't work this time. Now cough it up! What was that angel?"

Odin set the book aside once again. He had indeed planned to make his daughter-in-law leave without having to answer anything. While she was family to him, she was a demon as well, and some things had to remain a secret. Still, he had depended in her hospitality for a long time already. Fighting over this would certainly cause him more than enough problems.

Taking a deep breath he decided to get this over with. "Where should I start? You know about the Angelic Evolution Project?"

"I've heard of it," said Hild. "It was your effort to create a militarized version of those feather brains. It was supposedly canceled after Asgard's two Councils deemed the results as dangerous."

"Indeed. If anyone with insufficient control of themselves ever attempted to bond with an evolved angel, they would most certainly lose their sanity or even their life. As you may suspect, I wouldn't take no for an answer on such matters and the councils' cheerleaders weren't going to tell me how to run the place." Odin was not a huge fan of how the Councils had always tried to keep control of everything in Asgard, so he often antagonized them at every given opportunity.

They may have had the advantage of numbers, but he had the Fighting Wings under his direct control. The former Daitenkaicho had even implied at certain times that if they pushed things too far, he was more than willing to repay the favor. "You won't win a war by hiding behind others and making it their problem. I was willing to take risks for it and had the first of those angels for myself, with the second given to my own firstborn. If I hadn't enough confidence, then I would've never done that. They always complained, no matter what the subject was, and this particular one was no exception. Eventually, the project had to be abandoned but not before I managed to make one more of those angels. Of course that happened off the record and under a non disclosure agreement."

It took Hild a few moments to process all that information. She was always curious why the gods had abandoned those more powerful angels and by the looks of it, there was a good reason. Unlike her former father-in-law, she would've never risked her life to bond with such a being, regardless of any advantage she might have gotten in the process. There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask, but it was doubtful that the god would answer them all. But at the very least there was something that Hild needed to know more than anything else. "That's interesting... However, I must admit that this doesn't explain how the angel ended up in Surt's possession."

"It's simple really..." said Odin. "I gave him that angel egg."

"What?! Why?!" That was the last thing that Hild might have expected from the god. She was considering, Odin may have lost the egg during that... incident a long time ago, when she pulled him out of Nidhogg's domain. To give that angel willingly to a demon was something that she found very hard to believe.

"Responsibility, I guess. I may be a god, but the power balance of Niflheim is not something that doesn't concern me. The doublet system is the only thing that allows our realms to coexist without any serious conflicts for the first time in our history." Odin paused to consider how to phrase the next part as he feared that this could easily end up in a heated argument with his former daughter-in-law. "Having only one major supporter for the system wasn't a good idea. Especially since you had thought that it was a good idea to involve yourself with one of my sons. I needed a contingency plan just in case you happened to lose your position. There weren't enough demons to willingly follow your ideas for bringing an end to conflict. That student of yours, Surt, was an exception. So I offered him the angel to make sure that he was going to be your likely successor in case something happened during those early days as the doublet system was under development."

"I suppose you hadn't told him about the possible side effects from bonding with that angel?" Hild was almost certain that even Surt would've never agreed to those terms. He may have been irrational at times, but she doubted that he was going to risk his life for something like that.

"No, I've told him actually. You just refuse to give him credit," said Odin with a shake of his head. "He's no longer a kid and you know it. Even then, you still treat him like one."

Hild scoffed as she had no intention to get lectured on how to deal with her former pupil. She had learned enough but she had to admit that she was still curious. "Say... Who were you planning to give that angel originally? I mean, when you first decided to keep it?"

"Not Tyr, if that's what you're trying to ask me," replied Odin. "I'm afraid that this bit of information will have to remain undisclosed for the time being."

"Very well," said Hild. She had learned what she originally wanted to know, so trying to be greedy wasn't the best of ideas. Instead, there was other business she had to take care of. Turning around, Hild started to walk towards the door before she paused as she was about to leave. "Oh! By the way... the Judgement Gate fell In the Pit, so we had to retrieve it."

Odin remained silent for a few seconds, before he reached for his book once again. "I see... It's a pity that the infernal dragon wasn't in the mood for a midnight snack..."

"Yes, I thought so." Letting out a sigh, Hild opened the door. "I had to retrieve it. Otherwise, Ansuz would've accused that I was the one responsible for it. Well, I have places to go, demons to see... so later."

"Later." Odin was once again left alone with his book as the only form of entertainment. Although that was about to change soon enough. After waiting for all this time, he felt that it was the perfect moment to take some action. "Huginn! Muninn! Come forth!"

Two portals opened, allowing a pair of crows to emerge, obeying their master's summon. Both birds were very plain in appearance but in fact were both familiars, Odin's personal spies who roamed the various worlds as his eyes and ears. But it had been quite a while since Odin had last sent them on an actual mission and both were very eager to finally have the opportunity to do some spying again.

"Go to Midgard. One of my granddaughters just got married to a mortal. Find out more about this."

Huginn and Muninn nodded before disappearing into the ether and off towards their destination. Odin thought that it was about time to see who this mortal was, especially now that had become the latest addition to his family. 'Your wish may have been a joke, but let's see if you're one as well. For your own sake, as well as Belldandy's, I hope that you're not...'

The god finally returned to his book although he was certainly no longer bored. Finally, he had found something that was truly interesting. He only hoped that the boy would meet his expectations.

XXX

"This is bad! Really bad!"

High above the Tariki Hongan temple, the Gate was already opening up to send someone through. That was by no means a problem if it was any other day, but right now, Keiichi's family was just inside the house and it was extremely unlikely that they wouldn't notice the transfer.

"You don't have to worry that much, kid," said Thor. Unlike him, Urd was clearly starting to panic which was quite a sight as he hadn't seen her losing her cool that often. "If you keep making that face, you'll get wrinkles."

"But they'll definitely notice this!" argued the goddess of the past. "I don't think it's the best moment to tell them that we're immortals. Not that there will be a perfect opportunity at any point... but... we have to postpone it."

"Yeah right... Humans aren't the smartest beings in existence, you know. At one point they even thought that the world was flat." Thor paused and took a glance at his surroundings. Most of the temple grounds provided little to no hiding places for what he had in mind. The nearby forest, however, was ideal. "Listen, the best course of action is to intercept whoever passes and take them to the forest. Okay?"

Urd doubted that this was the perfect approach, but couldn't think anything better given the limited amount of time they had at their disposal. "Fine."

The moment that the figure had fully materialized and started to descend towards the ground, they both lunged, catching the unsuspecting god and preventing him from arriving right outside the house.

XXX

"Did you hear that?" asked Megumi. Looking behind her, she tried to see what was going on outside but the closed door panels might as well have been concrete. They did, however, offer very little in terms of soundproofing and the mysterious noise that was followed by a loud thud certainly captured her attention. 'Here we go again with the random weirdness... And like before, nobody is going to find it strange...'

Indeed, both her parents were currently enjoying their tea and her brother was attempting to do the same, though he was clearly too tense to savor anything. While suspicious, his behavior was much more likely due to the fact that he would soon have to come up with an excuse that would explain why nobody was invited to his wedding. The youngest Morisato certainly didn't want to be in his shoes right now.

Belldandy had already volunteered to prepare something for everyone but her in-laws politely declined the offer. They claimed that they had already eaten something on their way here and having her around was better since they weren't going to stay for too long. It would have been a shame if Belldandy spent most of the time in the kitchen instead of sitting there with them.

"So..." started Takano, breaking the silence in the room. "It's kind of funny that we happened to visit you today, Keiichi. We wanted to use your birthday as an opportunity to visit you and Belldandy. It was meant to be a surprise too, although we ended up being the ones who got one in the end."

"Y-Yeah, funny how things turn out sometimes, right?" Keiichi was still a bit uncomfortable, as he wasn't the most creative person when it came to excuses. It's not that he couldn't lie about it, but he worried that Takano was going to see though something like that, making things far worse. The only thing that he had to work with was his parents' assumption that he had run out of money and avoided a costly wedding. However, with Belldandy right next to him, it was extremely risky to try that, as the goddess wouldn't lie and if either of them asked her, it was over.

Belldandy wanted to say something to help Keiichi, but at the same time, she didn't know how to avoid anything that would reveal too much and put her husband in a more difficult situation than he was currently in. She nearly jumped when she felt someone tugging at her dress. Carefully looking next to her, she spotted a miniature version of her uncle, Loki, who was currently hiding under the low table while holding a piece of paper with something written on it.

'Read this and just play along. Take the note on your lap and read the lines while you take a few sips from your teacup. They won't find it suspicious that you look downwards when you do that.'

"Still, wasn't it a bit too sudden?" Taking a few moments to observe her son, she wondered why Keiichi would hurry so much to get married. They appeared to be a sweet couple when they visited them some time ago, but she still doubted that they just decided to rush things like that.

"Actually, it was my family that suggested we get married. It's unusual for someone like myself to live with a man without getting my mother's explicit permission." Belldandy noticed that the others were staring back at her in amazement as they hadn't expected her to suddenly step in. Especially Keiichi, who had such a shocked and silly expression that it almost made her giggle. She managed to maintain her composure before she continued with the note. "We... just never did that for all this time and well..."

"Um... So your parents knew nothing?" asked Keima, who had been relatively quiet for some time. It was partially because he feared that his wife was still upset about the incident with the vase, although he thought that this was something that wasn't important right now. He was rather surprised that his son had actually forgotten to tell Belldandy's parents about their relationship.

"They knew, but at the same time, Keiichi had never asked them for permission in order to become my boyfriend," said the goddess of the present as she read another line from the paper. "Now that I think about it, he never even talked to my mother before yesterday."

Keima shook his head as he turned to face his son. "You're actually very lucky, Keiichi. Given the circumstances, her parents could have been a lot more negative towards you."

"That's right. After all those years, you never even called them?" asked Takano. "We may have given you and Megumi a lot of independence early on, but not every family does that. In fact, a lot of them would have some serious issues if their daughter was living with a man and he never even asked them for their permission. It may sound a bit old fashioned, but I'll have to agree with Keiima-kun. You were very lucky that they didn't ask Belldandy to come back home. Well, I guess this explains the rushed wedding."

Keiichi didn't know where Belldandy got the idea to lead them along like that, but at the moment he wasn't going to complain. That was a plausible excuse and his parents seemed to have bought it. "Sorry, I never thought it would become such an issue."

Takano considered her son's situation, but no matter his mistakes, the hard part was likely over and there were other topics to talk about. "Well, it must've been hard for you to do all that in such short notice, but if you don't mind me asking, what are are your plans right now?"

"My plans?" wondered Keiichi. In all honesty, he hadn't really thought much about it. Not that he had the chance, as one thing happened after the other. Whether it was a strange incident or somebody suddenly dropping by for a visit, Keiichi had little time to consider his future. At least, not yet.

Noticing her son's expression, Takano tried to clarify what she actually meant by that. "I'm not talking about anything long term here, just what you plan on intending to do in the next few days. A trip perhaps?"

Keiichi got the meaning behind that last bit. She wanted to know about whether the newlyweds would go on a honeymoon or not. Most likely because his mother was under the assumption that he had no money left at the moment. Truth to be told, he couldn't afford something like that, but unless he was wrong, Sayoko had just given them a pair of airplane tickets. Well, he still had to convince Chihiro to give them a few extra days of leave if he intended to do this, but that was something he could do later. "We're going to Hawaii, since we already got a pair of tickets as a wedding present."

"You must have some really good friends, Keiichi," said Keima. After all, those tickets weren't exactly cheap.

'Sayoko? Yeah, right...' thought Keiichi, although it was for the best to refrain from saying anything about her. Perhaps now that they had graduated, the heiress of the Mishima Group had decided to forget about the past and that was why she bought those tickets. Either way, it was indeed a convenient gift. "Well... What can I say...it was a really thoughtful present..."

"I would like..." started Belldandy, only to pause abruptly when she realized that the next line in her paper was a request and not something that she was supposed to say. "Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say that... Anyone want some more cookies with their tea?" As the goddess served a few more of her delicious home made snacks, she managed to pass one to her uncle while the others weren't watching.

Although, Keiichi would have sworn that he heard a crunching sound coming from under the table, he quickly dismissed it as nothing important. He was probably getting paranoid from all that stress lately and needed to relax a bit.

XXX

"Oof..." Baldr had been rather careless. Moments ago he passed through the Gate, only to fall victim of an ambush by what seemed to be a goddess. He couldn't see anything. His captor had pressed herself against him in such a way that ensured that. He had a few goddesses try to get his attention before, but this simply ridiculous. 'Honestly... what do they teach them these days? Is this what passes as courtship now? What happened to a good old fashioned exchange of diaries?'

"Gotcha! You almost got through."

The deeply embarrassed god was still trying to get away but was too afraid to actually touch whoever had caught him. That voice, however, sounded awfully familiar. "Urd?!"

"Were you expecting somebody else?" said the goddess in question while smirking down at the youngest of her uncles. The poor god was a bit too easy to tease at times, just like Keiichi.

"No! I was supposed to bring a package here before you tackled me. And you should stop doing that, Urd. You're too old to do that routine with me. After all, I'm not even strong enough to stop you anymore," complained the god of light. While he possessed a first class license, his niece was already too much to handle without any magical assistance, even though she was a second class goddess.

"What package?" asked Urd. The god certainly wasn't carrying anything at the moment.

"Oh no! I must've dropped it when you collided with me!"

"Is this what you're looking for?" The newcomer caused both of them to turn to him, as he stood nearby with the missing item in his hands.

"Thor, oniisama! You found it!" Baldr was happy to see his eldest brother but the fact that he had also safely retrieved the little box made it even better.

"Nah... It actually found me on its own," grumbled the god of thunder. Not a moment ago, he was laughing at the sight of Urd tackling his brother, when that darn thing fell straight on his head. It was hardly enough to bother him, but Thor didn't like when he suddenly became the receiving end of a joke. At least they didn't see that.

"Oh dear! Oh dear! I'm going to be late." Taking the package from his brother's hands, Baldr started to head towards the house. "So I'd better get..."

He was interrupted by Urd, who managed to grab him before he left their company. "Not so fast, Mr. White Rabbit! Keiichi's parents are still in there and we'd better keep a low profile for the time being. Besides what's the hurry? They're not going anywhere."

"But if both of you are here, then who's with Loki?" countered the god of light. "I was told that our other brother was here as well. Are the others keeping him company?"

It took both Urd and Thor a moment to realize something extremely important. "We totally forgot about him!" they both shouted at the same time, before they rushed back at the house, dragging the other god behind them.

"I can walk, you know!"

XXX

Keiichi had finally managed to relax a bit now that the hardest part was over. At least he wasn't going to get disowned for the whole incident, which was a good thing. While he was fairly independent and not attached to his parents, it was still good to know that his relationship with them wasn't ruined. It would've been really hard if he had to explain everything to them. Particularly with Megumi, who was visiting them often and yet was left in the dark for years.

Sometimes Keiichi wondered if that was the best course of action. After all, Megumi would probably figure things out one way or another and it wouldn't be pretty. Especially since she'd be disappointed with the lack of trust on his part. She wasn't like his friends who would try to come up with some crazy scheme if they knew about Belldandy's true nature. They weren't bad people, of course, just a bit eccentric at times. Megumi on the other hand wasn't like them at all, so it was possible that his fears were ungrounded. Perhaps he needed to talk with Belldandy about this at some point, but not now. He'd had to deal with quite a few tricky situations lately and adding more onto his plate would simply be pushing his luck.

In the meanwhile, his mother had unsuccessfully attempted to find anything about his sister's love life. It was a touchy subject as he remembered and Megumi had somehow managed to avoid it entirely.

Seeing this, Takano decided that it was about time to go. "Well, I'm sure everyone is having a great time, but we really should be going back home."

"Already? You've just gotten here. Wouldn't you want to stay for a bit longer?" asked Belldandy, even though that could possibly cause some problems for Keiichi. As a matter of fact, Keiichi tried to imitate her concerned look, but she knew that he was faking it to a certain degree. There were too many celestials around and that could lead to trouble.

"I'm afraid so," agreed Keima. "It takes a lot of time to travel all the way to our town, so it would be for the best to start early. We have a shop to attend to, I'm afraid. Keeping it closed can result in many lost opportunities for us."

"Don't worry, we can keep in touch, Keiichi," added his mother. "We also owe you a gift, as Keiima-kun have spent our money on a business related purchase. But it might be for the best. We would've gotten you a birthday present, but this is a much bigger occasion."

"Thank you both," said Keiichi.

"Yes, we thank you for the visit," said Belldandy while she offered them a small bow. "I'm very sorry that we only had tea and cookies to offer you."

"It was our pleasure, really," said Takano. She and her husband got up and headed for the door, causing the others to follow them as well.

That left the god of mischief alone in the room. Grabbing the opportunity, he claimed the rest of the cookies for himself. Seconds later, he was joined by another miniature version of him that appeared out of the floor while wearing a wide grin on his face. Reclaiming the other mini-Loki, he was extremely pleased with how everything had worked out so well. Nobody noticed anything and he had the perfect alibi as he was supposedly here with Belldandy the whole time.

'It's so easy I even scare myself sometimes.'

XXX

Outside the newlyweds were having a last minute chat with Keima and Takano. Figuring it would be safe enough to venture out, the many goddesses who'd been hiding decided to make their appearance. Or at least the ones who Keiichi's parents had seen before.

Urd was upset that they barely had any time to explain the situation with the missing Loki to the others, but either way, they couldn't start searching the house without making a commotion. As soon as the mortals departed, he was going to regret playing hide and seek with her.

Skuld was also upset but it was mostly due to the fact that she was about to win Uno they were having before they had to get out for 'socializing' reasons. She only needed one more turn before she got them. 'Five more minutes! I just needed five more minutes! Oh, well... I'll get them again later. After all, only Peorth really knew the game and she's not good at all. He he he... If they keep up like this, then the TV is all mine. Urd coul be a problem though.'

The other two goddesses watched the mortal couple from a greater distance as Keima was a bit too scared to get close to Peorth. It may have had to do with the way she usually dressed and the goddess of the roses had no intention of bringing the subject up, especially in front of Lind. It was bad enough that the Valkyrie was critical of her attire; there was no reason to endure more of it. After all, she just added a mini skirt and had absolutely no plans to cover more skin for the time being.

"Megumi!" shouted Keiima as he and Takano reached the bottom of the staircase.

"Yes?" asked the surprised woman. 'What is it this time?'

"Since it's been such a long time, how about we drive together towards Nekomi before we leave?" asked her father.

"But we did that when we... Wait! You mean a race, right?"

"If you're up to it. Afraid to lose?"

"Not a chance! If I win, I get twice the month's allowance."

"Sounds fair, I suppose."

"Very well. Kei-chan do you want to join?"

Keiichi shook his head. It has been a long day and it was still not even afternoon yet. "Nah, I'll pass. I've got things to do, so some other time."

"Ha, you just got married and can't wait to be around Bell-chan," said his sister with a rather lecherous look on her face.

"W-what're you talking about? It's the middle of the day, Megumi!" shouted a deeply embarrassed Keiichi.

The exchange was cut short, though, as their father started his bike and after giving his son a small wave, he rushed away from the temple.

"Hey! That's cheating!" shouted Megumi as she tried to turn her own bike on.

"Looks like Keima-kun doesn't want to spend any more money today," said Takano as she got in her her car. "Don't forget to call from time to time, okay?"

"Yes, Takano!" said the couple at the same time.

As soon as she had left, Keiichi turned to Belldandy. "Oh, you remembered that she likes to be called by her name. I'd forgotten to warn you to avoid addressing her as 'mother' while she's around."

"Don't worry about it, Keiichi. I remembered, although I must insist that under no circumstances, you happen to call my parents by name."

"Of course!" nearly shouted the man, before Urd floated next to him.

"You better remember that, lover boy," said Urd in a low voice. "If you happen to call our father by name, he's going to have you polish the doors of Valhalla's main complex. All five hundred and forty of them. Spotless. Until you could see your reflection."

Keiichi gulped as he nervously scratched his head. "I-I'll keep that in mind..."

"Urd..." objected Belldandy, slight annoyance creeping into her tone. But Urd didn't care. After all, the thought of Keiichi on his hands and knees scrubbing away was just too funny.

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.

The previous Daimakaicho that is mentioned earlier in the chapter is Fafnir. In the Norse myths, he was a son of the dwarf king Hreidmar and became a dragon due to a curse. He was eventually slain by Sigurd. In this story he was the Daimakaicho before Hild got that position the first time. Additionally he's described as a bit greedy and his ultimate fate is a subject for a future chapter.

Huginn and Muninn (translates as 'thought' and 'mind' respectively) were the two ravens that Odin possessed in the Norse myths. He sent them to fly around the world every day and they returned back with information for him. They play a very similar role in this story as well, where they act as his spies.

Urd's reference ('Mr. White Rabbit') is actually from 'Alice in Wonderland'. It's due to the beginning Baldr's previous line ("Oh dear! Oh dear! I'm going to be late."), that was exactly the same with White Rabbit's famous line.