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

Keiichi watched as Urd continued to laugh at her own little joke. Of course, he knew that calling his father-in-law by name would have been a poor decision. Still, that didn't stop the goddess of the past from teasing him, although this time he could appreciate the humor. With his family's departure, he felt a lot better as the whole situation had been too stressful.

'Speaking of families... Belldandy's uncle has arrived. I suppose it's the best to properly introduce myself now that there's nothing else getting in the way.' Keiichi realized that the god and Laguz were probably still hiding.

"Urd, where's your uncle?" he asked. "We never really managed to talk."

The bronze goddess realized he was talking about Thor, but teasing him a bit wouldn't hurt anybody. "Which one?"

"Huh?!" Now that wasn't the answer that he'd been expecting. "Oh, you mean you have more uncles? In that case, the one that's here."

"Actually we've got three..." said Urd with a wide smile, "and all of them are here. You only ran into Thor so far. The third is Baldr and currently waiting alongside his brother and Laguz in the guest room. As for the second one... He's probably hiding somewhere."

"So it was uncle Baldr that arrived earlier?" asked Belldandy. "It's lovely that he decided to show up. I've wanted to talk to him about everything that's happened so far!"

"Yeah. Me and uncle Thor got him before he accidentally made a commotion, though," added Urd with a nod. "Now, if only we knew where Loki was, then everything would be fine."

"Oh! He was with us, actually!" beamed the goddess of the present.

"He was?" asked Keiichi, although Urd had also raised an eyebrow at this. "How is that possible? I never saw anyone..."

"Keiichi, don't forget that we can alter our size. He was under the table and even helped me." Taking the note that Loki had written, she handed it over to Keiichi. "He was the one that decided to dent the truth and I don't think that I would have done it without his assistance. It may have been wrong to mislead your family, but I honestly believed that you needed help at that moment. Are you mad?"

Keiichi read the paper, with Urd looking over his shoulder to check it out as well. Those were indeed Belldandy's lines from before. Even that little mistake she almost made was caused due to a request that was written here. Still, there were no lies hidden anywhere; just parts of the truth were left out. In essence it was a censored, short version of what happened. "I'm not mad... It's just surprising that a god was so good at... using words this way."

"Heh, you don't know who you're dealing with," said Urd as she rolled her eyes. "He's one of Asgard's biggest pains in the..."

"Urd! That's not nice!" objected Belldandy, stopping her sister from saying anything more. "You shouldn't talk like that about our family members..."

The eldest of the Norns did offer a smile. Despite that, there was a distinctive hint of sadness in her expression. "That's a nice way to put it, Belldandy. Most others would have simply said that I was the last person to criticize him being a troublemaker myself."

"Neesan..." Belldandy wasn't happy that the conversation had taken such a turn. It was indeed true that some had often compared her with Loki, especially during their childhood. They thought that she was going to become Asgard's new prankster once she grew up and her heritage only made things worse. It was one of the reasons why her sister had always avoided that particular uncle. In fact, her playful personality had much more to do with who her mother was than the god of mischief. Thor had been her primary influence, even if most had failed to recognize this.

"Uh... Urd..." Feeling the mood, Keiichi was about to say something as well, but his sister-in-law stopped him before he even had the chance to go much further than that.

"What's with the long faces? We still have a god to catch, so let's go!" Undeterred, Urd marched towards the house, dragging the couple behind her. Both had a rather surprised expression given how easily the other goddess' mood had changed. Then again, that's one of the things they liked about her.

XXX

Tyr was enjoying a nice cup of tea. There was still a lot of work that needed to be done, but a break once in a while wouldn't hurt anyone. He had even considered inviting his daughters as a lot had happened since he last saw them. Sadly, they always got a bit edgy whenever he recalled them. Like the time that he actually attempted to invite Urd in order to spend some father-daughter time together, especially after the whole Lord of Terror incident.

It was true that he told Belldandy that he would strike Urd down if he had to, but he didn't mean in a lethal way. He thought it would have been a nice opportunity to clear up a few things with Urd. Instead, all three of his daughters made something that turned out to be a destruction program, resulting in the forceful slam of the Gate and crashing down the Yggdrasil system.

'Seriously... They always assume the worst. Who knows what they'll come up if I told them to drop by again? They act as if I'm going to keep them here forever or something.' Letting out a sigh, the god wondered if he should try a different approach with them since the current one clearly hadn't yielded the desired results. Maybe he should have asked Baldr to help him as he had practically raised them for the most part and knew them better than anyone.

'That sounds like a plan. I only need to wait until he returns and...' His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly someone entered his office without even bothering to knock. There was one person in Asgard that did that, and even then, only when she was angry.

"Ansuz! I hope that everything is alright?" asked the Daitenkaicho, although he was fully aware that his wife was positively fuming. Her winglets were pointing slightly upwards, a clear sign of her foul mood.

"No!" shouted the goddess as she slammed her hands on his desk, causing some of the paper stacks to collapse. "I am most certainly not alright!"

Tyr really hoped that Hild hadn't called her flat-chested again. Last time was bad enough. Although, if that was the case, she would've returned much sooner. "Did you and Hild get into a fight?"

"This has nothing to do with Hild. At least... I hope so." Ansuz took a moment to calm herself down before she exploded from frustration. "I need your administration codes!"

"What for? You certainly have more than enough permissions in the system," asked a puzzled Tyr. 'Just what happened over there?'

"That simply won't do. It's about the Angelic Evolution Project and even I don't have the necessary clearance to access it," said Ansuz. It was one of the rare cases where the system simply denied her any information at all.

"The whole project was shut down a long time ago. It's highly classified and even flagged as 'forbidden,' so the file is only accessible from the system's main console in the Yggdrasil Complex. Since remote access is denied by default, we have to get over there." It was one of those cases where they relied on Loki's paranoid security system that he had set up a long time ago. Tyr had always thought that his brother was just being ridiculous about the restrictions. Until he became the Daitenkaicho and actually saw some of those files; only then he realized that there were things that had to be buried and forgotten. Still, it was terrifying how much of what they knew about the world was just a lie.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" said Ansuz, starting to lose her patience as she watched her husband, who was not actually inclined to move.

Tyr had come to regret his decision to see the things hidden in the classified files. It was fuel for nightmares and, even worse, he had to keep quiet about it. The last thing he wanted was to let his wife see some of the other subjects that were flagged as 'forbidden'. While they had turned the Angelic Evolution Project into one of them, it was a mere joke in comparison to the rest.

"We're not going anywhere. At least you aren't." Tyr's tone had adopted his Daitenkaicho persona, cold and impersonal. Most gods and goddesses could never argue with him when he used that. Normally he would've been shaking from the sight of his wife whenever she lost her temper, but right now, she was the terrified one. "Go to your office and I'll bring you the file in physical form. Don't even try to start an argument. It's either this or nothing at all. Understood?"

"Yes." Ansuz was taken aback by his change in attitude. It was highly unlike him to be so brisk with her for no reason. Obviously, whatever caused this change was something that he couldn't talk about. Considering that she was Asgard's second in command, it must've been really serious. "I'll go back to my office. I guess there's a lot of paperwork for me as well. Just don't forget to bring me the file."

"Don't worry. I won't." As soon as she left the office, Tyr suddenly felt tired. He really didn't want to go there, but he had to. 'Come to think of it... I never asked her why she wanted to get that information in the first place. Oh well... I guess I can do that later. I probably need to get her a gift as well; she's probably angry with the way I pulled rank on her. Just great...'

Deciding that dealing with this now was better, he started for the exit.

XXX

Thor the god of thunder was currently on a mission. While finding Loki was important, he felt that observing the situation was a bigger priority. Moments ago he'd left the guest room, leaving only Baldr and the artificial goddess Laguz behind. He always wondered why the most popular of his brothers never had a girlfriend. That was a problem that he'd had with Belldandy, too, but it seemed that it was no longer something he had to be worried about. Besides, Baldr was much older than his niece.

In the Fighting Wings before they made any important decisions, they always collected as much information as possible. 'That's right... I'm not spying or anything like that. It's a clinical observation of the situation.' Of course, he still hoped that the others wouldn't be in a hurry to get back in. This was one of his less... honorable reconnaissance operations. Still, he felt that he had to figure out how that kid acted around a goddess. So far, he was nearly bored to tears.

Crouched outside the room he continued to observe through a little hole in the rice paper door, but all Baldr had managed to talk about was the weather and a local lake or something... 'Maybe I should've left him with Peorth instead. If that didn't go anywhere, then I don't know what else would...' His thoughts were interrupted as he felt someone pressed herself against his back. "What are you looking at?"

Thor was startled enough to generate so much static electricity that it caused the goddess' hair to stand up despite its length. Out of all the deities in the area, she was the last one he wanted to catch him doing this. "Um... I'm just observing... Don't mind me."

"Yeah, right. Move! I want to... observe too!" said Urd as she struggled to get a glimpse of what was going on inside.

Keiichi and his wife just stared at the duo, but before they had the chance to say anything, the other three goddesses came in.

"Hey, what's going on here?" asked Skuld who was eager to go back at playing another game with the others. She wouldn't admit it, but she greatly enjoyed that. After all, she didn't need to complete an anti-proton bomb right now and Sigel was still working on the rest of them. By the time she'd finish the game, Skuld was sure her explosives would be ready as well.

"Uncle Thor and Urd are apparently interested in uncle Baldr's interactions with goddesses," explained Belldandy.

While Skuld appeared to be uninterested, Peorth tried to join Urd and Thor. The latter had given up the fight for viewing privileges and now ended up with not one but two goddesses stacked on top of his crouched form. Judging by the look on his face, it was one of his less dignified moments.

"Shouldn't we resume our search now that Keiichi-kun's parents are no longer there?" Lind was trained to focus on certain goals and as soon as Urd and Thor had explained them that Loki was nowhere to be found, she thought that they should have started right away. Considering that she was partially responsible for that, Lind was eager to locate the missing god. The others, however, thought that it was probably better to wait until there were no mortals in the house.

"No need anymore. Loki's attracted by anything that's remotely interesting, so don't expect him to stay hidden for too long," said Thor. He'd heard from Belldandy that Loki had been with her earlier that afternoon. At least it was unlikely that he had the opportunity to do anything serious under those circumstances. "Once he realizes that something is going on elsewhere, he''ll just show up."

Indeed, not a moment later, the mischievous god decided to join them. He was back to his full size and wearing his usual grin. The only uncharacteristic thing about him was the fact that he was remarkably quiet. So much so that he managed to get right next to the Valkyrie without her even noticing anything, something that was not a small feat given her combat training. "Did you guys miss me that much?"

Lind nearly jumped at the sudden question. "Where did you came from?!"

"The living room, as a matter of fact. I've already helped Belldandy with her problems and now I've decided to help my brother with his as well." The god of mischief found Thor's predicament to be very humorous. It wasn't every day that the god of thunder was caught like that and the two goddesses that were on top of him was a nice touch too.

"You would've liked that, right? Too bad I deal with my own problems by myself," said the god of thunder as he got up, forcing the two goddesses to hover before they hit the floor. "Also I'm not stupid enough to believe that you were just waiting without causing any more trouble. What did you do this time?"

Loki tired to look annoyed at the accusation, even though it ended up a lot more comical than one might've expected. "What are you insinuating? What even makes you so sure that I did something?"

"Because you always end up doing one thing or another. It's not a question of if, rather when," said Thor with a casual shrug.

"Oh, alright! I ate all the cookies! Happy now?" asked Loki as he still tried to appear annoyed, but failed to do so.

The resulting commotion caused the ones inside the guest room to become curious and decide to check what was going on. Opening the door, Baldr was greeted by the familiar sight of his two brothers having some silly argument. However, there was also somebody that he hadn't met yet. "Oh, you must be Keiichi Morisato. I apologize for coming here uninvited, but I was instructed to bring a package here. I'm god first class, first category, unlimited license, Baldr. Pleased to meet you, Keiichi-san."

That last bit sounded very familiar as it was exactly the way that Belldandy used to address him. The mortal extended his hand just like Thor did before, but the blonde god in front of him was unsure what the gesture meant and simply stared at the mortal man.

Instead it was Loki who took his hand. "Nice to meet you too. God first class, first category, unlimited license, Loki. I've heard that you've married our niece. So, have you two done this and that yet?"

"Eh?!" Keiichi became as red as a tomato while the rest glared at the troublesome god. Except for Belldandy who was fiddling with her fingers in embarrassment.

"Loki!" shouted Thor as he grabbed the other god from the back of his neck and lifted him up. "What do you think you're doing, asking somebody you've just met a question like that?"

"Why are you so mad? I'm just concerned about the boy's well being," complained Loki despite the fact that his brother was still holding him up. "Mortals have a limited amount of stamina and their cardiovascular system can fail if you put them under a lot of stress. Happened once actually."

"What? When?" asked the god of thunder.

"A century or two ago, I think. Some goddess wanted to get into a relationship with a mortal and without a contract between them, there was nothing to restrain his desires. He didn't live long enough for good old Ansuz to get a chance to show up." There was a long pause as everyone was simply trying to process what they just heard.

"Hold it! That's the first time I've heard of this," said the god of thunder.

"Me too!" said Urd who pointed an accusing finger at her uncle. "You're just making stuff up!"

"First class gods can't lie, remember? Besides, what did you want me to do? Put it on Asgard's bulletin board?" asked Loki with a shrug. "Happened overnight, so it was too late to save him in time. Ansuz had me explain to the poor girl that he suffered from a heart condition. She only gives me those kind of jobs..."

"Even if that really happened, what are you up to?" asked Thor who was starting to suspect that the other god was up to something.

"Why are you so negative? I've made something to prevent him from getting harmed. That's all," explained Loki. Pulling out a small golden item that resembled a very thin coin, he allowed the others to take a look. Its surface was covered with a serious of very elaborate runes so small that they were barely visible. "It's actually capable of keeping him healthy over a long period of time. He won't need to see a doctor anymore if he attaches this on him. Not bad for a weekend's work, if I say so for myself."

Letting the god down, Thor took the item in his hands in order to examine it. "So, if he puts this on him, he's invulnerable to diseases and other conditions?"

"Not invulnerable... Just a lot tougher than normal. We need a lot more power to completely negate every harm and even then there are still limits," said Loki. "It simply draws energy from the residual forces that remain around us for a while until Yggdrasil processes that into something harmless. In other words, it's going to borrow a bit from all the goddesses that live around him, and in exchange, he's going to stay healthy."

"So that's what you were up to..." said Urd as she scratched her chin. It was a bit too good to be true. "Is there anything else that you may want to add while you're at it?"

"Oh! That's right! I found these things under the table and the batteries I got from the temple can power them. Isn't it nice?" asked the god of mischief, showing the others the listening devices that Sayoko had dropped earlier in the morning.

Despite that, most heads turned towards Skuld, who didn't appreciate the sudden attention. "Hey! Those aren't mine. Besides, why would I use something that I haven't made and even leave them without a power source?"

"Forget about that garbage," said Thor, turning to Loki. "On the other hand, what you've made can be really useful. Especially if you consider how vulnerable mortals can be. What I don't understand is why you went with the whole story, instead of just saying that it was something to keep Belldandy's husband safe."

"Well, that's correct," said Loki as he scratched his head. "But where's the fun in that?"

"I'll show you fun!" shouted the angry god. His temper caused a few electric arcs, but before things escalated even further, Belldandy decided to step in.

"Actually, that is a really thoughtful gift, uncle Loki. Although how do you use it?" asked the goddess of the present, taking the tiny golden disc in her hands.

Once Thor calmed down, Loki moved closer to his niece in order to demonstrate how to use his magical device. "It's simple, really. All you have to do is to physically attach it to your husband. The most convenient option is to put on the back of the watch that he's wearing. It would allow direct contact with him and nobody else will manage to notice it as well."

"Well? What do you think Keiichi?" Belldandy turned to her husband in hopes that he would accept the item. While he had rejected immortality, she had no desire to let him go sooner that it was absolutely necessary and Loki's device could ensure that.

Keiichi looked a bit uncertain, considering his past experiences with Urd's potions and Skuld's contraptions, but if this little disc worked properly, it could be indeed handy. "I suppose it's okay. As long as it's not going to do anything funny, I don't see why not. At least I won't have to deal with colds anymore."

The goddess of present was relieved that Keiichi had accepted the offer. The story that her uncle had told them was a sad one, and it must've been hard to lose a lover so suddenly during the night. As she thought about it, though, she suddenly realized that those events were not unrelated. 'Hold on... Did he actually meant that a mortal's body couldn't handle a goddess during that?' Belldandy was certain that this was not the case, unless she happened to completely lose control of her power.

It was bad enough that Keiichi knew about her jealousy storms; letting him think that she could fry him in such a manner was even worse. Then again, he didn't look particularly worried after hearing this and even when he learned that their true forms were much different from their current ones, he never gave up on her. 'I'm probably worrying over nothing. But... it's still rather embarrassing to think about this.'

"Excellent!" beamed Loki, happy to see that the mortal was going to use his invention. While not particularly flashy, it was a nightmare to make, mainly due to the insufficient energy that he had to work with. The best he had available was the residual energy that the goddesses left behind and that was barely enough to power it. The level of optimization for that was simply ridiculous, but in the end it payed off.

"Actually your father has something for you as well, Belldandy," said Baldr, holding up the wrapped package he was carrying with him all this time.

"Oh, that's so nice of him! Please offer him my thanks when you return back to Asgard." Belldandy took both the gifts and decided that it was the best to keep them in the room she now shared with Keiichi. She could later ask Skuld to attach Loki's invention to Keiichi's watch and take a look at what her father had sent her. "Excuse me for a moment everyone! I'll have to take these items to our room. In the meanwhile, why don't you all wait in the living room. It's been a while since we had a family gathering like this and I'd like to make some tea for you as well."

"That actually sounds like a great idea, Belldandy!" said Keiichi. At least this time he could relax a bit. There was no need to come up with any excuses in order to hide up something, as almost everyone here was either a god or a goddess. He was kind of curious to learn a bit more about his wife's family as well. Especially since he knew very little in the first place.

"That's fine. But I'll join you in a second; I have something to take care first," said Urd as she headed towards her room. She did however reach out and grab Loki from his robes and started to drag him along.

"What gives, Urd?!" protested the unhappy god, who was trying and failing to release himself from the goddess' iron grip.

Belldandy had already left to her room and the other goddesses joined Keiichi in the living room. Only Loki's brothers were left behind to look at this spectacle.

"I need you in my room for a moment," said Urd without even bothering to stop.

"Your room? No way! I'm not a lab rat. I mean... I could help you, just don't try your potions on me..." Loki was still attempting to free himself though Urd showed no signs of letting him go. The desperate god turned to his two brothers. "Hey! Tell her to stop or something, will you? My well being is under threat!"

However, the only thing that the other gods did was to wave him goodbye.

"I'm being oppressed and nobody even cares... Some family..." muttered Loki before he was out of sight and into the lion's den. Or more specifically, Urd's room.

"Well," said Thor as they turned to walk towards the living room. "He always wanted to get into a goddess' room."

Baldr was a bit skeptical about that. "Um... I don't think that's what he wanted, though."

"I know," laughed Thor. "Let's hope she goes easy on him. I don't particularly want to see him trying to get her back for this. His pranks can get out of hand at times."

"I really hope that's the case," said Baldr, before they entered the living room. "It would be nice if Urd learns to get along with him as well."

XXX

At an abandoned arcade, a nude female figure rested inside a coffin. While it almost looked like a scene straight out of a horror movie, whatever atmosphere might have existed was ruined by a loud snore that was driving the rundown building's other occupant insane.

"Geez, she really makes a lot of noise when she's tired..." said the childlike version of the Daimakaicho. She was a mere one thousandth part of her real self that was left behind in Nekomi to oversee Mara's activities as well as the goddesses. Especially her daughter, who avoided her like the plague, no matter what Hild tried to do.

She had learned to deal with Urd. This noise, on the other hand, was a different story. It was obvious that her minion had a bad day, but that was no excuse to be so loud. Besides it was past noon and she was still asleep. Someone had to wake her up and Hild was more than happy to oblige.

Remembering one of Loki's pranks, she summoned an insulated container of liquid nitrogen. The god of mischief had once doused a Valkyrie with it while she was asleep on duty. As a matter of fact that was Ansuz, back when she was still a captain of the war goddesses. Hild had never expected the goddess to know so many curse words given her otherwise innocent appearance.

Taking a last look at the sleeping blonde, the Daimakaicho opened the container and simply dumped the clear fluid onto her servant's exposed torso. Of course, such an action would've had devastating effects on a mortal, by leaving terrible frost burns. An immortal on the other hand was merely going to feel a bit uncomfortable. However, it could really startle them, especially if they never saw it coming.

Indeed, the scream was loud enough to bring some patches of paint down as the whole place shook violently.

'Great, now my ears are ringing...' thought Hild, who realized that perhaps this was one of her not so bright ideas. After all she did try to imitate Loki and that was bound to cause her trouble since many of his pranks happened to backfire.

"H-Hild-sama! What happened?!" shouted Mara, who was still not fully awake and struggling to understand what woke her so abruptly. Or why she was covered with those cold fumes.

"Well, it was about time you graced me with your presence, Ma-chan," said Hild. She had already gotten rid of the container, but there was little doubt that it was her the one that did this. Unless her assistant was a bit slow to realize it. "Today is busy , so I can't have you sleeping all day long."

Mara let a groan as she was not particularly looking forward for doing anything. Yesterday she'd had to deal with more things that she could handle and that blasted wedding gave her a really bad migraine. Even the electric bills that Urd gave her did little to ease her discomfort. 'Darn mortal puppy and his lovey-dovey atmosphere nearly made me sick. Ugh... It gives me the chills to even remember that.'

"Don't give me that attitude!" warned Hild, noticing Mara's expression. "It's your day after all, so you should've been looking forward to it."

The blonde was a bit puzzled. There was nothing different about this day unless she forgot something. "Uh... Hild-sama, is there something special today?"

"Of course! I have to reward you for being such a good underling," said Hild with a big smile. "You don't think that I would've forgotten that you remained loyal even though you could've just abandoned me."

"R-really, Hild-sama?!" wondered the blonde demoness. Mara was used at being punished for messing up all the time, but this is the first time in a long while that she's actually going to get something back for her hard efforts. 'She's a good boss after all.'

"Of course! Have I ever lied before? Actually... scratch that. But you know what I mean," said Hild. "It's the real deal this time. I've found you a nice job."

Mara was ecstatic. If the Daimakaicho herself found her a job, then who knows how high up in the demonic chain of command she was going to end up. She could almost feel all her years of hard work paying off at last! "Which realm is it in?"

"Midgard."

"Oh! Is it one of our operations here then?" said Mara. She was a tad disappointed, but at the very least she could still hang out with Urd once in a while. So maybe it wasn't a total disaster.

"Not really. I just happened to notice this advertisement in the newspaper and thought to get you the job. You can thank me later," said the little Daimakaicho with a smile. She even handed her the paper with the ad in question already circled. "Just wear something nice and we'll get there in no time."

'Whirlwind, Nekomi's fastest growing garage, is expanding! We're looking for a new salesman/saleswoman to help us in our shop. Contact info below.'

Mara's hopes and dreams shattered as she realized that this was just a low level job on Earth. Even worse, it was in the same blasted place that Keiichi and Belldandy worked. She was unsure whether she should laugh or cry. 'That's a reward?'

Hild was not amused with the blonde's reluctance. Giving her smack on her backside to make her snap out of it, she repeated her instructions, hoping that his time the demoness would get it. "Just put something on and let's go already!"

"Y-yes, Hild-sama!" shouted Mara.

XXX

Asgard, Main Yggdrasil complex.

Tyr was walking through the corridors of the giant structure that surrounded the Tree of Life. Aptly named, the tree itself was a crucial part of the cosmos, especially in providing the right conditions for life to exist in the various realms.

Gods had added several layers to the initial building, making it progressively larger over time and even more complicated. In its current form it was nearly a maze that one needed a map to navigate through. The real problem was that the building was designed with functionality and safety as the main goals and not aesthetics. While it looked fine from the outside, the inner corridors were all over the place, almost resembling an insect colony.

The walls were also heavily reinforced and extremely thick, which partially explained the weird architecture, since the weight distribution was very had to manage on such a scale. As a matter of fact, it was more similar to a multilayer vault than anything else.

Most celestials simply assumed that it was due to the fact that Yggdrasil was extremely important for their everyday lives. Most of the huge chambers in the complex were filled with machines and gods or goddesses that supervised them on a constant basis.

However, there was also a darker side to the tree. It maintained order in realms, not life as they all assumed. The latter was a mere byproduct of that process instead of the goal.

On the other hand, Nidhogg, the infernal dragon, was a harbinger of destruction and chaos; the polar opposite of Yggdrasil. That was the main reason why those creatures were eternally entangled in a struggle to overcome one another. Even though Yggdrasil managed to imprison the dragon and keep it away from the world, it took most of the tree's strength to do so, leaving it in a weakened state. Of course that meant little considering that those creatures possessed an infinite amount of power. More likely they were both asleep and inactive for most of the time, leaving gods and demons alone.

Entering the room, Tyr noticed that everything was exactly the same. The old command center was also acting as Yggdrasil's main console and linked directly to the lowest level hardware of the supercomputer, before it connected to the tree itself. It was ancient by every meaning of the world, a relic that was built millions of years ago. It wasn't the very first one, though.

Most regular operations were conducted from the new command center that his daughter worked in as an administrator. But extremely critical ones had to be handled from here, thus it was risky to make any changes while the system was running. Since they rarely, if ever, shut the system down, there was no opportunity to make any changes willingly, leaving only one possibility as to what have happened to the previous versions of this room. They were destroyed, but he wasn't aware of any more details, as they weren't recorded anywhere. Especially in the public archives.

There were lots of things that were not meant to be accessible by the general populace and over time the ones that were aware of them decreased in number. It was entirely possible that the ones that knew were reluctant to pass that burden to the others. Especially after the war with the demons where a lot of the older gods had lost their lives, taking those secrets with them. That reminded him the exchange he had with his wife where he had to stop her from getting in here while he searched through the 'forbidden' topics. After all, many facts about the tree were indeed a lie to keep everyone from being afraid of it.

When the gods first tried to establish contact with the Tree of Life and asked it what its name was, the response was ambiguous. At least, according to the official history books that were widely available to most celestials. In the actual record, its simple reply was 'Tree of Terror'. Even the construction of the Yggdrasil control system wasn't due to convenience, in order to automate the interface between themselves and the tree, but rather to contain it. Those that directly communicated with it lost their minds.

Of course, the tree itself was very reluctant to talk to any of them under any circumstances, but they still had to be certain that somebody wouldn't try to attempt that. In fact, in the entire recorded history there was no incident where Yggdrasil attempted to contact with them in any shape or form. They were the ones that couldn't keep their curiosity under control and ended up making stupid mistakes. In the end, though, containing Yggdrasil was considered as the safest option, since it would avoid certain questions in case another incident were to happen.

Only mindless machines could stand a conversation with it and even then only at a very simplistic level. That was also the main reason why they had to supervise the system at all times instead of using an AI to do it.

Taking a seat and logging himself into the system, he searched until he found the files that his wife had requested. A few instructions later and the data was copied to a physical disc that he had to personality deliver to her, just in case. He had often accused his father in the past for being too secretive and paranoid, but now that he had to do the same, he felt a pang of guilt at the way he'd treated him. At the very least he needed to try and do something for Ansuz in order to make up for being as rude as he had been.

With the transfer complete, he logged out and headed towards her office.

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 forbidden topics are a category of highly classified files in Asgard. In the manga, Belldandy tried at one point to tell Urd about the situation between her divine and demonic sides. However, as soon as she did that, Yggdrasil silenced her in order to prevent the disclosure of information that was considered to be sensitive. Most of the topics mentioned here are far more serious and they are currently only accessible by very few. Tyr is one of them, but Ansuz despite her rank, has no access.

The Tree of Life, is mentioned as being the "Tree of Terror". As a matter of fact, this is a possible way of translating its name if it comes from the word yggr (terror). There are other more popular ways of explaining its name and those involve Odin's name. However, in this story I didn't want the tree to be that closely associated with any certain entity and chose the other possible name. Technically the whole thing should read as "Tree of Terror, gallows".

Despite its rather scary nature, the tree is absolutely essential for life to exist. That doesn't necessary mean that it is benevolent, though. As a matter of fact, it's only enforcing order in the world, while Nidhogg wishes for chaos. Any moral affiliations are alien to those entities, since they don't have a meaning to them. Neither of them is good or bad, in a way that most people would understand.

They are extremely complicated though and trying to communicate with them directly can be hazardous, since the can overwhelm and eventually damage the minds of lesser beings, like gods and demons for example.

Because of that, both sides use computers to handle all the interactions with the Tree of Life and even then, those are not sentient machines. Skuld had already made two robots that have their own will and if a child could do that, then it's kind of interesting why they manually control the systems instead of having a sophisticated AI to do that. In this story the explanation is that the can't use something like that. An AI would be corrupted in no time. Only simplistic algorithms can avoid that particular problem.