I do not own the Ah! Megami sama / Oh! My Goddess series
"Merry Christmas, Kei-chan!"
Knocking the front door of the Morisato residence, Megumi had decided to see what her brother was up to. She heard that he had arrived yesterday, but didn't want to be way too inconsiderate and drop by as soon as he and Belldandy set foot on Nekomi. Today was a different matter, though, and the curious young woman wanted to find out what happened during her brother's honeymoon.
"Oh, welcome, dear! You must be Keiichi's sister, Megumi!" said an unfamiliar brunette that answered the door. At this point, the youngest Morisato was somewhat used to find attractive ladies in her brother's home, but it still made her wonder where they all kept coming from.
"Um... You must be new here," laughed Megumi, trying to start up some conversation, instead of staring at her.
"Yes, I'm Belldandy's grandmother, Frigg," said the elder goddess. "I'm here on vacations. Oh! How rude of me! Please come in! Don't just stand outside, the weather's a bit chilly."
"Thank you." Blinking hard, the young Morisato walked inside, stopping for a moment to remove her shoes, as was the custom in Japanese houses. She was rather baffled at the woman's claim, yet, she doubted that it was an excuse, given how outlandish it sounded. 'Hold on... They seem to be foreigners, so, maybe she messed the words? I mean... she probably meant cousin or aunt, but, got it all wrong. Oh well... it's best not to be rude and press on the subject even further.'
"Would you like a cup of tea? We had a sudden snowfall yesterday and you must be awfully cold, driving all the way here on a bike," said Frigg, leading the young mortal to the currently vacant living room.
"That would be really nice! Although, how did you know that I rode a bike, here?" asked Megumi.
"Oh, I'm well aware of your brother's hobbies and the fact that you share some of them," explained Frigg. "Plus, I've heard you approaching the temple grounds. Now... please excuse me for a moment and I'll get your tea ready."
Offering a smile and a nod, Megumi wondered where everyone was. Given her last visit here, just a couple of days ago, there was a significant number of women currently living in her brother's house. Yet at the moment, she only met a single soul, with no indication as to where the others may had gone. Her initial assumption was proven wrong, though, when a loud shout came from a nearby room.
XXX
"Who do you think you're hugging?"
Looking down at her protesting sister, Urd wasn't entirely certain whether Skuld was still not fully awake or she simply wanted to put the blame on her.
"Absolutely no one. I was peacefully asleep when someone decided to turn me into their own pillow. And by that, I obviously mean you..." said Urd.
"You're lying!" protested the youngest of the Norns, blushing a bit.
"Oh really? That's my futon. Care to explain how you got here?" countered the amused half goddess. Once the initial annoyance of getting awake had passed, Urd started to enjoy her sister's embarrassment at being caught hugging her. While the young celestial had no reservations to act like that with Belldandy, she always tried to act all indifferent towards her, even if it was mostly for show.
"I... I... Well, you obviously must've grabbed me while I was sleeping!" insisted the little goddess, checking the alarm clock that was placed next to her own futon. "Oh no! We're late!"
Avoiding to continue their argument, since she knew that she was right, Urd decided to simply let it go. Instead, she thought that it was better to reassure her sister about the fact that neither of them had apparently slept in. "Don't worry, Skuld. Today's a holiday, so, Whirlwind is closed. And come to think of it, with Belldandy and Keiichi here, we don't have to go there anymore."
"Oh... right..." There was a noticeable disappointment in her voice, even though it meant that she could go back at her own projects once more. In the last few days, as part of her job, Skuld had to work on the rather mundane and low tech human machines that were brought to Whirlwind for repairs or some type of customization. While it was nowhere as exciting as her inventions, the young goddess felt really nice knowing that a lot of people were grateful for her efforts and contribution in the shop.
"Hey, don't look so down... We can still visit them whenever we want!" As a matter of fact, Urd was initially more than happy to go back to her extended vacations, instead of having to deal with that lousy job. However, even after a short period of time, she started to enjoy the fact that she could simply hang around Mara without their roles getting in the way. Perhaps if she stayed for longer, it might've offered her more opportunities like going to that bar again, and Urd wouldn't mind it at all.
Disentangling herself from her sister, Skuld realized that Keiichi's original present for Belldandy was still left on her desk. While Urd had suggested her to keep it, the young goddess felt that it was probably wrong to do so. On the other hand though, she was slightly apprehensive to tell her beloved sister that she was involved in that deceitful act that took place yesterday.
Noticing Skuld's thoughtful expression, Urd had a very good idea of what was probably wrong, and deliberately decided to ask, in order to make her younger sibling to talk about it. "Something troubles you?"
"Well... I just don't know what to do with that gift... I mean, I know that, oneesama got something else, but... keeping it is kind of..." started Skuld, trying to find out the right words.
The goddess of the past seemed to know what she was trying to say and put a hand on her sister's shoulder, stopping her. "Look... Let me talk to Belldandy first. I honestly doubt that she's going to get angry, but, it's better to play safe. I have a lot more experience with that sort of situations, compared to you."
"It was my idea, though..." objected Skuld, with a sad frown.
"Yes, that's right. Still, I'm the adult here and it's my responsibility to take care of you, not the other way around. Just go and see what's everyone up to and I'll talk to her." For once, Skuld didn't immediately object at being indirectly called a child. After all, that wasn't entirely wrong and she knew it. Even more, Skuld appeared unwilling to risk getting into a potential argument with her idol and as such, Urd felt that it was up to her to see what their middle sister thought about yesterday's plot.
"Sure thing, sis," said Skuld and with that, she quickly changed into her daily clothes, heading towards the living room.
Smiling at her, Urd couldn't help but chuckle at her sibling's tiny slip of the tongue. 'Sis, huh? That went way better than I've thought. Now's the hard part, though...'
XXX
Knocking the door of the couple's room, Urd reminded herself to stay calm. They seemed to had slept in as well, given their long flight and Keiichi's possible jet lag. 'Not to mention their late night's... activities...'
Waking someone up and having them deal with this type of conversation right away, would've angered most people. But, neither Belldandy nor her husband was like that, and that gave the goddess of the past some confidence that she could get something good out of this.
Opening the door slowly, Belldandy appeared to be slightly tired. Even more, she was actually wearing her new lingerie, causing her sister to raise an eyebrow. "Neesan? Is there something wrong?"
"No, I'm merely checking... and I must admit that it really looks nice on you." Smiling at her sister, Urd noticed that, Keiichi was still asleep. "Want to talk somewhere else? I don't want to wake him, as well. Maybe my room?"
Nodding silently, Belldandy summoned her casual clothes, and followed the Norn of the past. Without being told, she sat on the floor, in front of one of Urd's low tables and folded her hands on her lap. "Does it have to do with Keiichi's gift? Or rather... the one that took it's place?"
Sitting across the table, Urd couldn't avoid but wince a bit. "So... You've already figured it out... Was it Keiichi?"
"Not really. I realized what was going on, once you cast that soundproofing spell on our room. As a matter of fact, I was almost convinced up to that point, but, I thought that it was a bit too convenient that you suddenly decided to show up and use that spell. That wouldn't have made sense, unless you anticipated that we'd do something like that," explained Belldandy with a smile. "And you just confirmed it a moment ago."
"Guilty as charged," said Urd, scratching her head. "Look... I'm sorry about it. I know that I shouldn't have tried anything like that..."
"Why? I enjoyed it," said Belldandy, interrupting her sister. "And I'm fairly certain that Keiichi did too... So, I don't see any reason to feel bad about it. Although, if I have to be completely honest with myself, I must admit that I would've appreciated a less deceptive method. Framing poor Keiichi was simply not nice of you, neesan..."
Urd was astounded by her sister's proclamation. It was almost a bit too much for the middle Norn, a goddess that never took serious interest in physical relationships. Not to mention her modesty, that prevented Belldandy from flaunting her natural beauty to others, unlike Urd who had no such reservation. "Wait... You enjoyed it? That's... great!"
Blushing heavily, Belldandy stared at her lap, in order to avoid her sister's gaze. "It's not like that! I mean... Perhaps... to some degree. What I intended to say was that, it made things a bit less awkward. I was under the impression that once the limiter was lifted from Keiichi, everything would've be easy. That was very naive of me, and without your help, I don't think that we would've gotten that far with him. Not in such a short period of time, anyway."
"You're giving me too much credit, Belldandy," said Urd with a shake of her head. "I only gave you something to wear on two occasions, plus some advice. Other than that, you and Keiichi did most of the hard work to move forward with your relationship. It's not easy to forget all those years where you couldn't even hold hands; especially for him. And the fact that he was naturally shy made things extremely hard, too. Some would've simply given up and stick closer to their comfort zone, instead of risking a change in the status quo. After years of a purely platonic relationship, a more physical one could work in both ways, either making everything better, or... putting an end to a perfectly good marriage."
"But, why?..." asked the goddess of the present. "Isn't that just a physical manifestation of one's feelings?"
"Yes and no... It's true that, sex is an intimate act primarily driven by emotions. But at the same time, it's naive to think that love is the only one that's applicable. In fact, it can be done for purely recreational reasons, or even insidious ones. Like manipulation and seduction, and as unlikely as that sounds, it could happen almost unconsciously," explained Urd. "Some consider it as the deadliest non lethal weapon there is, as ironic as that sounds."
Belldandy remained quiet for a while, considering her sister's words. Furrowing her eyebrows, the younger Norn couldn't believe that she would ever act in such a manner. "I don't know, neesan... I'm fully aware that it can be exploited, but... me using it as a weapon?"
"I've already mentioned seduction and manipulation. The former is rather self explanatory, but, the latter is more dangerous. If you offer it as a reward, whenever your partner does something that you approve, and give him the cold shoulder when you haven't gotten what you wanted, then it becomes a way to turn someone into your pawn. Especially, if it happens slowly, over a long period of time. And the worst part? The one that's doing it might've never been consciously attempting to pull such an act."
"Then... what are we supposed to do about that?" asked the goddess of the present.
"I won't pretend that it's that simple, but, the best way to prevent doing that, is to never engage into any activity with Keiichi, while you have an ulterior motive. You know... entice him to do something in return. I know that you're not the type of goddess that would do that in order to get a new shiny piece of jewelry or convince him about something, but, it still happens all the time among couples. Of course, it's a very short sighted method, as it often leads to resentment and broken relationships. And find better ways to resolve whatever issues that you may run into; like talking about them. As a matter of fact, having a constructive conversation is the best way to solve most things, instead of using indirect methods that often have various side effects."
"I would assume so. If the exploited partner realizes it, then they won't be happy for sure..." said Belldandy with a frown, as Urd nodded in reply.
"That's very true. It usually starts for simple and mundane things, but it can quickly escalate. In no time, you can be actively trying to wrap your husband around your little finger. And once he finds it out, he might not want to be with you anymore. Of course, I don't believe that you'll ever attempt to pull this on Keiichi, but... It's better to keep an eye on such problems, before they occur. You know... just in case," explained Urd.
"I think that you're right, neesan. I've blown things up because I couldn't handle the fact that I'm a jealous cat and... What's so funny?" asked the middle Norn as she saw her sister hugging her sides while giggling.
"I've never thought that you'd ever call yourself a jealous cat... Still.. that's not far from the truth. We sometimes do things that we don't mean to and it's not necessarily due to malice. In most cases it can be due to a whim or even something that's absolutely innocent. However, you need to be careful about the impact of your actions, as it might come to bite you later on." Looking a bit sad, the goddess of the past, let a tired sigh. "That does sound a bit hypocritical, though. I'm not one to talk about such manners... Especially not while I'm doing similar things on an impulse..."
"You're wrong, Urd. You're not seriously toying with people's feelings, at least, not in a malicious way. It's true that you occasionally mess around with others, but, thankfully you don't cross certain lines, and for that I'm really proud of you." Smiling at her, Belldandy couldn't help but remind her of the part where she disagreed. "Still... please consult me before you pull such a stunt in the future."
"Of course. Don't worry, that won't become a habit. I just couldn't say no to her..." said Urd, before she realized what she just said. "Oops..."
Tilting her head, the curious goddess of the present wanted to know who was the mastermind behind this... gift. "And who that person might be?"
"Um... Skuld," answered Urd in a level voice.
"Our Skuld?!" asked a shocked Belldandy. Her little sister had always been very vocal whenever, she got anywhere close to Keiichi. The mere thought that, Skuld of all goddesses wanted this was simply incomprehensible. As a mater of fact, she was expecting Peorth or even their grandmother to be the culprit.
"Yep. Scary, isn't it?" said Urd with a smirk. "Although, promise me that you won't scold her. She just wanted to help, not cause any problems. I'm the one that carried out the plan, even if she picked the lingerie."
"I won't. That much you can be assured of," replied Belldandy, before her expression turned into a troubled one. "However... I don't know what to make of the fact that my little sister chose something that I would've never thought of wearing... Am I really that old fashioned?..."
Laughing, Urd simply waived her hand in a dismissive manner. "Don't worry about it! It was originally my idea and she nearly went ballistic, when I suggested that to Keiichi. I might've made her feel a bit too guilty, and she wanted to do this for you. Or... I'm just a bad influence for the kid..."
"I disagree... You've been with me since we were young, and I haven't picked any bad habits from you." Getting on her feet, Belldandy offered her sister a smile, as she headed for the door. "You don't have to worry about it. I won't scold her or anything of that effect. Actually, I think that I should thank her. Now... Would you like to have some tea with us?"
"Sure. I'll take a bath first and I'll join you in a few moments," said Urd, letting a sigh of relief as her sister walked out of her room. 'That went well... Actually, way better than I've originally expected. Perhaps I'm getting back into shape as a love goddess? Hm... Let's not push it, though...'
It was then when she noticed the sword that she got for a present. Yesterday she was too busy to properly take a look at it and curiosity got the better of her. Pulling the blade out of its sheath, she watched in awe at the shiny surface, full of runes that ran along its length.
'So pretty!... Although... I've thought that, Keiichi said that it was only a decorative one. This looks terribly sharp, however. Like an actual weapon... Strange...'
Had Urd paid more attention to the sword as she put it back in it's temporary place, next to her various brooms, she would've noticed the runes shining for the briefest of moments.
XXX
"Oh, greetings Megumi!"
"Hi there, Belldandy! How's Kei-chan?" Putting one of her usual cat like expressions on her face, the youngest of the Morisatos was actually eager to talk to her sister-in-law. She had learned a few things from Frigg about the couple's honeymoon, although, it was a lot more fun to ask them directly. However, going straight for the kill wasn't advisable, and tried to have some small talk with her first.
"He's still asleep. Yesterday must have been a tiring experience for him." Accepting the cup of tea that her grandmother had offered her, Belldandy enjoyed the aroma as she took a sip. Only then she noticed the incredulous looks she got from the others around her. As a matter of fact, the confused goddess didn't realize that her previous statement had more than one meanings and as such, she continued to look a bit lost. "Is there something wrong?"
Reminding herself that this was Belldandy that they were talking about, Megumi simply laughed, trying to put an end to that awkward moment. "You obviously mean about your flight back, right?"
"Of course... Why?" asked the puzzled goddess of the present.
"Nothing... For a moment, I thought that you were talking about... Nah... never mind that!" said Megumi with a shake of her head. "What's you plans for today?"
"Um... I can't say that we have any, to be honest. I want to let Keiichi relax a bit. After all, we'll get back to work tomorrow, and it's not fair if he gets no rest," explained Belldandy.
At that moment, a sleepy Keiichi entered the living room, still trying to get used to his original time zone. "Good morning everyone. Huh? Megumi?"
"Hi there, Kei-chan!" beamed the younger Morisato as her brother noticed her.
"Hm... Let me guess... You wanted to see what we're up to?" asked the mechanic with a smirk.
"Bingo! It looks like you had no plans, though," replied Megumi with a smile. "So... I wondered if I could hang around here for a bit..."
Before anyone else could offer a reply, Belldandy interjected. "Of course! We're family after all! Please stay here as long as you want!"
"Just until afternoon is more that fine!" said Megumi, in an attempt to avoid being a burden to them.
It was then, when a loud scream was heard from the hallway.
'What's gonna be this time?' wondered Keiichi.
XXX
"What the bloody Asgard is that thing?!"
Looking behind him, the frightened cat tried to shake his unidentifiable pursuer off his tail, but to no avail. Welsper was gone for a few days, considering that the cursed feline had no interest to stay in a house filled with goddess, if Belldandy wasn't there. As soon as he realized that she had returned, he immediately rushed back to the temple, eager to meet her again.
However, instead of the charming Norn of the present, he was greeted by an amorphous blob of liquid metal, that he originally assumed it was one of Urd's ingredients. After all, it had formed a pool right in front of her room, and Welsper thought that the goddess of the past had broken a vial that contained mercury. Considering this as nothing important, the feline tried to walk past it, only to cause a rather immediate and violent reaction.
The liquified metal reached out, extending a dozen of long slender arms, all ending in viciously sharp talons. Running for his life, the cursed demon was horrified when the blob seemed to be capable of following him, eager to pull him in a deadly embrace.
As his scream had produced no response from any of the celestial residents of the temple, he decided that there was no other way, but to rely on his own strength in order to find a way out of his predicament. Running across the narrow corridor, he reached the bathroom, where a surprised Urd was soaking peacefully in the tub.
"What do you think you're-..." started the Norn, before she noticed the thing that was pursuing the demonic cat.
"Out of the way!" shouted Welsper, using the tub's edge as leverage for a mighty jump. Smashing through the grate that was placed on the bathroom's only window, the cat rushed outside for safety.
The blob had rearranges itself into a more efficient form for mobility, pulling its entire mass into a sphere, with the claw like hands acting in a similar manner to an arthropod's legs. Launching itself towards Urd's direction, the entity embedded its sharp claws deeply into the wooden wall and climbed towards the window. Moving even faster, it jumped outside and started to search for the fugitive demon.
"What in the world was that?!" Urd had seen a lot of things in her life, but that was a little too strange for her. It was clearly a shape-shifter, given its ability to change forms in such a fluid manner. However, she had never encountered such a creature before. There was little to no residual energy coming from it, and what she detected was somewhat similar to that of an earth spirit. Unlike most of them, though, it was somewhat unrefined and even nebulous. As a matter of fact, it reminded her of Asgard's mainframe in many ways. As an administrator, she had enough experience at being close to the power lines that hooked their supercomputer to the World Tree, and this entity had a similar feel to that type of energy.
Deciding that she had already spent enough time soaking in the bath, she got out of the tub and drying herself with magic to save some time, she summoned her clothes and headed for the corridor.
XXX
Finding Belldandy in the hallway, the goddess of the past noticed her sister's worried look.
"Are you alright, Urd? We heard a shout and..."
"Actually, that was Welsper, not me. I'm fine... although..." Despite her best efforts to reassure her, the Norn of the past couldn't ignore the fact that there was something very wrong here.
"Yes?" asked Belldandy in an effort to find out what was behind that commotion.
"There was a... creature... or... a thing chasing him. I have no idea what it really was, but it seemed to ignore me completely, focusing on the cat instead," explained Urd.
"Could it be one of Skuld's machines?" suggested the goddess of the present.
"I don't think so. We were both too busy in the last few days for her to make something like that. Besides, it didn't look like any of her usual stuff. It was a shape-shifter, and on top of that, I haven't seen Skuld use bladed weapons in her robots, only blunt ones and explosives. At least as far I can recall..." said the goddess of the past with a frown.
"That's terrible! Megumi is here, as well!" said Belldandy, worrying that her sister-in-law might get to see a lot more than she's currently prepared for. Which didn't say much, as her husband was rather reluctant to tell his family about her nature.
"Well... Take her to the city for a while. I'll have to catch that thing, whatever it was..." said Urd.
"Shouldn't we inform the others?" asked the brunette goddess. "I was told that they went downtown earlier this morning."
"There's no need to summon an entire team, just for one creature. Me and grandmother are more than enough to handle this. You need to take the rest and get out of here. After all, the more goddesses, the more the residual energies that we have to filter out while scanning for an intruder," explained the Norn of the past. "Relax and enjoy a nice morning, will you?"
Belldandy wasn't entirely sure, but, she couldn't argue that, Frigg would be more that powerful enough to handle a potential threat. So, after some thought, she nodded in agreement, hoping that this wasn't a terrible mistake. "Yes, neesan... I'll go and tell the rest to go for a walk."
XXX
"I really love this time of the year! Everything's so beautiful with all those decorations... It's a bit sad that they'll be gone in a few days..."
"It's only natural, Megumi. They're only up for the holidays season, so, they'll be gone after the new year arrives. Besides, we never really celebrated Christmas, back home." Waking next to her, Keiichi was accompanied by Belldandy and Skuld. He was slightly surprised that his wife had suddenly suggested they go downtown to spend some time together. Then again, it was probably for the best. There were too many goddesses in his house and having his sister there for long, could lead into problems.
"Oh, come on, Kei-chan! Even without a tree and the rest of those foreign customs, we still got the presents!" said Megumi with a smile.
"Speak for yourself... I had to pay for mine. Keima didn't like giving me things that I hadn't worked hard to obtain." Of course, his sister was another case, as both his parents always made it a bit easier for her. Some might've called it favoritism, either due to stereotypes regarding her gender or the fact that she was the youngest one. As a matter of fact, they've always wanted him to be the more responsible one, expecting that one day he would take over their family business and hopefully manage to keep it going. Many kids who got their jobs from their parents, often took things for granted and never learned the true value of money, wasting them carelessly until nothing was left.
"Ouch!... Scary!..." Laughing a bit, Megumi decided not to go into that conversation. She knew that her brother meant no harm and was just stating the facts. After all, she was still getting a much larger allowance than he ever got. Although, now that he was now working on Whirlwind, her brother was financially independent, even if he wasn't making a fortune there. Still, it did make her feel a bit better, knowing that he wasn't limited by their parents' decisions anymore. Especially now that he was married.
"You know... Speaking of presents... Have you got any, this year?" asked Keiichi. Their parents used to send them a few things for Christmas, even if it was mostly of a practical nature these days. Takano often included some kind of delicacy for the siblings and occasionally Keima added a couple of bike parts, just in case they happened to need them. Their motorcycles weren't kept in such a good shape without proper maintenance, but, as much as they wanted to avoid it, replacement parts were sometimes necessary.
"Hm... Not yet. I talked to Takano and she said that a package is already on the way. Sadly it was a bit late to make it in time for the holidays, although, it's most likely arriving before the new years eve. I think that they had some difficulty to pick something for you, given that it's a bit of a proper wedding gift," explained Megumi.
Continuing their stroll towards a local cafe, Belldandy decided to use the opportunity to talk to her sister, while her husband and Megumi kept talking about past holidays and gifts. "Skuld?..."
Feeling nervous, the youngest Norn turned her herd towards the other goddess. "Yes, oneesama?"
"I'd like to thank you about your gift. Me and Urd talked about it already, and I'd like you to know that I appreciated the thought you put behind it. Even if I had a few issues about the execution of that plan, I'm really proud that you acted in such a manner," said Belldandy, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulder. "It's rather comforting to know that you're supporting me in my decisions. Some immortals wouldn't consider a mere human to be worthy as a potential spouse, regardless of his personality. I'm really happy that you're not amongst them, Skuld."
"I... Well..." The goddess of the future tried to come up with a reply, but, after a few seconds of failed attempts, she gave up and she hugged her sister. In all honesty, she was far from okay with this arrangement, yet there was nothing that she could do about it anymore. Actually, there were a few more things to keep her and Keiichi from getting too close. However, all would eventually achieve absolutely nothing, except for alienating her from her sister, the exact opposite result from the desired. At this point she could only do one thing, something that she heard from the mortals. 'If you cant beat them... Join them.'
Returning the hug, Belldandy giggled. "You know, Skuld... I haven't noticed when you grew up, and I apologize for that. Months ago, you would've never displayed this level of maturity. Actually, I think that you deserve some treat. How about... I make you some home made ice cream for you?"
"Yes, oneesama!" Smiling from ear to ear, the youngest of the Norns had to admit that the mortals may had been right; joining them was much better.
XXX
"Here kitty... Come to mama Urd..."
Almost sarcastically, the goddess of the past, tried to keep her cool. It's already been three entire hours, and there was absolutely no sign of either the cursed cat, nor the... entity that was pursuing him; whatever that blasted thing was.
"Meow."
Staring at the tiny form of one of their neighbor's tabby cats, Urd let out a tired sigh. "You're not the one I was looking for..."
Tilting her head, the curious kitten, couldn't avoid but wonder if the bronze skinned lady would give her a rice cracker, today. "Purr?"
Urd frowned, not happy to disappoint the little rascal. "Look, I'm kind of busy... So, why don't go back to your home? I'm searching for something really scary... Got me?"
Of course the kitten no idea what sort of terror she was talking about. What truly mattered for her, was the fact that there would be no treat, and as a result, she lowered her head. Just in time to notice an eery metallic looking creature walk by them in the distance, approaching the house. The featureless being stopped for the briefest of moments, and twisting its entire legs on the spot, it seemingly turned towards them. Even if didn't seem to have any face, it apparently observed them for a second or two, and then melt itself, in order to get through the door's gap.
That was more than what the tiny feline had eve witnessed in its short time in this word. Raising its fur in a desperate attempt to look somewhat imposing, she let a little hiss and then bolted in the other direction, hoping that she would get back to her mother's basket in one piece.
"Hey... I'm not that scary..." said Urd, totally missing the shape-shifter weapon that went inside the Morisato residence. With Frigg searching the nearby forest, she was fairly certain that they should've found it by now; or Welsper. 'Maybe I oversaw an important detail. Let's go and check again.'
Walking into the house, she went through all the rooms, one after the other. Yet once again, there was nothing out of place. Or so she thought, once she remembered that she spent the night in Skuld's room. 'Hold on a second... How did my futon got back in its original place? I sure don't remember doing it... After that thing interrupted my bath, I forgot about it.'
Indeed, in the middle of the place affectionately called 'Urd's Castle,' was her neatly folded futon. 'Belldandy... She's probably the one that did this. For sure... I'm just getting paranoid...'
"Urd-chan!" Interrupting her thoughts, Frigg approached her from the direction of the forest. "I've found Welsper!"
"Great! Um... Where is he? I don't see him..." asked the confused goddess of the past, as her grandmother was apparently alone.
"On top of a nearby tree, and pretty terrified, by the looks of it. He refused to return back, until we contain the creature that assaulted him," explained Frigg.
"We first need to find it, before we capture it..." said Urd with a sigh. Maybe she was extremely optimistic to expect that only two goddesses could've done the job on their own. "Oh! By the way, grandma... Did Belldandy got in my room at any point before she left?"
"No... At least I don't think that she did... Why?" asked Frigg.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Urd decided that a change of pace was necessary. "Let's try a full area search, using Yggdrasil. I'm pretty sick of this!"
"Hm... That might be the best choice," agreed the elder goddess. "Let's go outside and get a search mandala going."
"Sounds like a plan."
XXX
Three hours later, the group, minus Megumi had returned back. Keiichi's sister had enjoyed the company, but, felt that she should leave them alone for now. At the very least, she did get a few details about the honeymoon, although, the couple avoided to mention certain details that would make her too curious. Like the fact that, Hild had offered them to stay in a luxury suite for free, which would've required some explanations that they didn't want to provide.
"Neesan! We're back!"
Walking out of the living room, the half goddess smiled at her sister. "Well? Had a nice time?"
"Yes, we did," replied Belldandy. "Did you had any luck with your search?"
"No... not really..." said Urd, with a shrug. "We even got the others to join when they returned, about an hour ago and we haven't got anything."
Keiichi seemed perplexed, looking at Skuld, who simply shook her head. Apparently, neither of them had any idea of what was going on here, although, he suspected that they avoided to talk about it in front of his sister. "Um... what are you talking about?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know that, as well," added Skuld. She was positively giddy and not particularly worried given that, Belldandy had treated her some ice cream for her help.
"We had a... critter chasing Welsper around," said Urd, in an attempt to make it sound as unimportant as possible. The half goddess had no intention to make them worry too much about something that might've left already. Besides, she wasn't going to take Welsper's word for granted, and assume that he had no idea what attacked him. Even though he was cursed to send the rest of his immortal life as a relatively harmless cat, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve and she wouldn't rule out the possibility that it might've been a plan that horribly backfired. After all, he wasn't a huge fan of Keiichi's marriage to Belldandy.
"What? That's really serious!" said Keiichi, not particularly fond of the idea that they had some kind of dangerous creature lurking around the temple grounds.
"Like I've said, we couldn't find anything. Which means that whatever it was, it's not here anymore," said Urd. "Plus, we've run a full scan with Yggdrasil and the results were negative, as well. So, why lose our sleep for something that's not going to cause us problems?"
Belldandy was about to object, but decided against it. It was obvious to her that her sister was downplaying the importance of the incident in an effort to reassure Skuld and Keiichi. On the other hand, she had only a few ideas left. Perhaps a manual scan might've revealed something, although, she doubted that it was worth the time and trouble, given Yggdrasil's sophisticated security algorithms. And it wasn't like they were all on their own here. There were enough goddesses to hold back even the mightiest beast, especially since one of them was a Valkyrie.
At that moment, the sound of the telephone interrupted the silence, and fearing that it was a call from Asgard, the Norn of the present want and picked it up.
"Hello? This is Morisato residence."
"Oh, Belldandy! I'm sorry that I haven't called sooner!" said the excited owner of Whirlwind, from the other end of the line. "Is Keiichi there?"
"Yes." Turning to her husband, the brunette goddess offered him the handset. "It's Chihiro."
Trying to be optimistic, the mechanic wished that this wasn't some kind of a nasty surprise for them. "Um... Yes?"
"Hi there, Morisato-kun! I was so sad when Urd told me that you visited the shop yesterday, while I was out. But, I've got some really good news!"
'Oh no... That's what I'm worried about...' thought Keiichi, but, remained silent. Even without hearing about it, he felt that he was going to regret this. "That's nice... What exactly are we talking about?"
"One of the local malls wants to have a lottery for the new year! And their first prize is a bike!" said the excited Chihiro.
"Well... that sounds okay... But, how does that concerns us?" asked Keiichi. "We're mainly selling parts, not entire motorbikes."
"Actually, they've already got a Yamaha for the prize. However, a day ago they've learned that one of their competitors is holding a similar raffle and their executives thought that they needed to make the offer even better. So, they contacted me and asked if we could customize the bike. Isn't that great?" said the excited businesswoman.
"They did? That's rather unexpected... I'd never think someone like them to offer a non stock bike." Keiichi was rather impressed, as a matter of fact. If everything went well, this could've been a perfect opportunity to advertize their shop. Still, his brain insisted that there was a problem, and once the initial enthusiasm settled, he realized what it was. The new year's eve was in a couple of days and the raffle was probably going to be at that day, or at the very least, they should've finished with the customizations by then. "Wait a second... Do we even have the time to prepare it?"
"Well... That's kind of the problem," admitted Chihiro. "We can pull it off, if we focus solely on that. But, I don't think that it's a great idea to send potential customers away, especially during this period of the year. So... I was wondering if we could... have some extra help for a few more days?"
"You don't mean those two guys?..." said Keiichi with groan. The though of having to deal with a stressful project while Tamiya and Otaki were involved wasn't exactly his idea for fun.
"I'm not that stupid, Morisato-kun," replied the owner of Whirlwind. "I was referring to Urd and Skuld. I'll even pay them for their work! What do you say?"
"Let me ask them..." Taking the headset from his ear, he turned to face his curious sisters-in-law. "Um... I've got some good news and some bad ones...Which one you want first?"
"The good ones?" said Urd, while Skuld nodded in agreement.
"Well... we've got a new project for our shop, and it's a big profile one," said Keiichi.
"And the bad news?" asked Skuld.
"It's unlikely that we've got the proper amount of time to pull it off." Taking a deep breath and bracing for the worst, Keiichi tried to make it sound as pleasant as possible. "Which means that we might need some extra help; for a couple of days at least."
"Oh..." said both of them, looking at each other, as they realized what was going on here.
"Sure thing," said Skuld with a shrug.
"Yeah... It's not like there's something too interesting on the TV, right now," added Urd.
Blinking hard for a few seconds, the mortal man had no idea what gotten into them. Normally, they would've tried to avoid something like that; especially Urd. "Uh... That's nice..."
Turning back to the phone, Keiichi shook his head to clear his thoughts. "They don't seem to have a problem with that."
XXX
For the most part, Keiichi was rather impressed. In the past few days, his sisters-in-law worked in Whirlwind, just like they did while he and Belldandy were on their honeymoon. Still, it was kind of weird to see Urd stuck behind a counter, although, he suspected that it also had to do with the fact that, Mara was also there.
The two of them seemed to get along in a way, at least to the point where there weren't any serious arguments that could end up in a magical showdown; one that most certainly would turn the shop into a pile of metal shrapnel.
Skuld, on the other hand was delighted that she had Belldandy's full attention, given that the goddess of the present did her best to make the three mechanics as comfortable as possible, while they worked around the clock to handle both the project and the regular work that they had during this time of the year. So, she was more than happy every time her sister showed up with a cup of tea and some cookies or even the occasional ice cream for her.
More importantly, she seemed to work pretty nicely around him. He never understood her machines in the past, given their partially magical nature, but, this was a different case. It was the kind of technology he was familiar and passionate about, and for the first time she worked on a project along with him, just like a coworker. In a way, he'd never really done that with his own sister, as Megumi preferred to have fun, instead of spending all day working with a wrench. She did have more than enough skills and knowledge to do it, but not the personality.
That was one of the reasons why she joined the softball club instead of the Motor Club. Megumi might've enjoyed to work on her KSR and kept it on a perfect condition, but, she still didn't abandon all her other hobbies for a single one. Of course, in his mind, Keiichi couldn't rule out the possibility that the club's infamous reputation might've something to do with it, as well.
Working overtime had kept him away from the temple, and its other visitors who apparently had their own schedules by now. Lind and Peorth were spending a lot of their time time on some kind of magical research, while Laguz seized the opportunity to see as much TV as she could. Frigg was primarily doing the cooking and the rest of the housework, despite Belldandy's protests.
His wife didn't want her grandmother to spend her vacation in such a fashion, but, the elder goddess insisted that helping her granddaughters was far more important than sitting on her posterior all day long, filing her nails.
And one thing that made him immensely relieved was that the critter that, Urd had mentioned was nowhere to be seen. Yet, he could've sworn that strange things happened from time to time, especially during the night. Items would go from one place to another, odd metallic sounds were sometimes heard, even though there was no obvious source and there were a couple of occasions where he felt that someone was watching him.
Without any solid evidence, he could only blame the long hours at work. Still... Yesterday he visited the bathroom during the night, and he clearly heard a creepy noise coming from the hallway. Dismissing it as one of Skuld's robots, he went back to his bedroom, only to remember that Banpei and Sigel were normally charging during the night. As such, whatever made those sounds, wasn't them. Even worse, by the time that he had returned to Belldandy's side, he noticed that his side of the covers were neatly folded, as if he had never slept on the bed.
Out of sheer curiosity, he took out a gift that was given to him for his fifteenth birthday, a Rubik's cube. He had never managed to solve the darn thing, but for a good measure, he purposefully left it on his table. And today, the cube was on the exact same spot, only with a huge difference; it was solved.
Perhaps he was starting to lose it, although, this was the first solid piece of evidence that something strange was going on in his house. Aside from the fact that it was nearly full with goddesses, which was by now pretty normal.
Being New Year's eve, and after all their hard work, Chihiro had decided to let them return home early, in order to enjoy their small victory. The project was finished right on time and by the looks of it, the commissioners were pleased with the result. Which meant a possible boost in Whirlwind's popularity and perhaps a raise, if Chihiro felt that generous.
On top of that, his parents' gift had arrived as well and by the looks of it, he got a rather practical one. A double sized futon, which was probably Takano's idea. One that made Urd snicker for most of the morning, especially when she tried to ask them whether they were looking forward to give it a test. Sure, he and Belldandy were finally past the most awkward phase of their relationship, but, he was still unwilling to talk about it with others, particularly Urd and Peorth.
"Eek! Urd!"
Letting out a sigh, Keiichi wanted to find out what it was this time around. As if there wasn't enough weirdness around the house already, the distressed Goddess of the Lake was apparently going to be added to the list. She had volunteered to help with the housework a bit, assisting Frigg, and by the looks of it, she had found something in the elder Norn's room that startled her.
"Huh? What did I do this time?" asked the half goddess. Not a moment ago, she was peacefully watching some TV, an activity that she immensely enjoyed, given all the time she's been busy at Whirlwind.
Approaching the scene, Keiichi could've avoid being a bit curious as well. After all, the Norn of the past had been relatively tame in the last couple of days.
"That's Excalibur! How?... Where did it came from?" asked the shocked blonde, pointing at the seemingly decorative sword.
"Uh... Me and Belldandy got it as a gift for her." Attracting both goddesses' attention, Keiichi wondered what the big deal was. "It's only a rusted sword..."
"What? It looked perfectly fine to me," said Urd, scratching her head, while Laguz walked over to the sword and took it out of its sheath.
"It seems exactly as I've remember it," said the Goddess of the Lake, while a confused Keiichi blinked at the spectacle. Last time he saw it, the sword's blade had been totally rusted, yet right now it seemed to be just fine.
"But... how?" wondered the mortal, trying to understand what was going on here. 'Urd said that it was like that, and I haven't seen Belldandy trying to repair it either...'
"It's an advanced weapons system. One that Asgard created for a variety of purposes, and for a while, I was assigned as its keeper," explained Laguz. "Sadly, I had no idea what happened to it during the time I was sealed."
"We found it in an antique shop, while we were trying to find a proper gift for Urd," said Keiichi. "Hold on... Now that I think about it, that name sounds rather familiar..."
"It inspired the legend of king Arthur. Although several events in the story were kind of inaccurate... I suppose that's what they call artistic license," said Laguz, with a wince. Turning her attention to the sword itself, she smiled a bit. "Hello there, old friend. It's nice to see you once again. How are you?"
Sharing a look, Urd and Keiichi started to wonder if the other goddess was having a mental breakdown, being exposed to her past, once again.
Giving a faint glow, the various runes on the blade's lit up, almost in reply to the blonde's words.
"All operational parameters are within this unit's tolerances. No sign of intruders detected inside the perimeter. One demonic feline is still lurking in the outer edge of the defense zone. Should I engage assault protocols?"
Blinking at the sudden reply, Urd tried to make sense of the seemingly sentient sword. Its mechanical and monotone way of talking reminded her of a robot, although, it seemed to be more of a magical entity.
"Wait a darn second! You talk?!" she asked after a long pause.
"Affirmative."
"Then why haven't said anything up until now?" asked the Norn of the past.
"I was never addressed directly at any previous point by the other inhabitants of this base."
"It's a house, actually," corrected Keiichi, trying to forget the fact that he was holding a conversation with a bladed weapon. "And... was it you, the one who attacked Welsper? The demonic cat that you've mentioned, I mean."
"Affirmative."
"Then, you're the shape-shifter that we've been looking for!" said Urd, pointing an accusatory finger towards the sword.
"It is within my capabilities to assume other forms, in order to act independently and accomplish a great variety of tasks."
"And that means that the one that's been tidying up various things in the house was... you?" asked Keiichi.
"Correct. Having everything within this residence in a consistent and predictable location is essential for detecting outside forces that might attempt to interfere. As such, this unit had to intervene and perform simple actions of tidying up, with the intention of maintaining the recommended level of order. It was approved by 59% of my runtimes, given the hybrid's indifference at leaving her mattress outside of its designated area, after she had exited her sleep mode. Further research had revealed that the mortal unit may also lack the mental capabilities of carrying out sophisticated tasks, as was observed by the subject's inability to solve rudimentary puzzles. Corrective actions were deemed necessary, until unit upgrades its primary neural processor. Reading books is highly advisable."
The trio stood aghast at the artificial entity's caustic, yet utterly monotone and impersonal tirade. Especially Laguz, who seemed to be rather confused, as she failed to recall any similar incident where the sword would talk back in such a manner. Hiding the offending weapon behind her, the blonde tried to find something to say, given the rather evil look she was receiving from the half goddess.
"Uh... Please excuse it... It's probably a misunderstanding! I-I can assure you that it's not normally like that." Despite her best efforts, the Norn of the past wasn't impressed at all, and grit her teeth.
"Oh sure! It more or less called me a slob, and you want me to just say nothing?!" spat the agitated goddess.
"Correction. I was not attempting to insult any individual unit. My evaluation was based on common courtesy, given that we share the same living accommodations. As such, my runtimes indicated that helpful suggestions are beneficial for social interactions."
"You obviously have no idea what you're talking about," said Urd, crossing her arms. "Not only you did things behind our backs, but you also insulted me and Keiichi, by calling him an idiot."
"Are my social behavior algorithms unacceptable?"
"That's an understatement, to say the least. Don't care how smart you think you are, but, you really have no idea how to properly interact with people," said Urd with a haughty tone, enjoying the opportunity to make fun of the artificial entity, as payback.
"Understood. Recalibration of personality parameters is recommended by 78% of runtimes. Entering training mode."
Looking curiously at the weapon, the trio noticed that it started to shift its shape, as Laguz let it down on the floor. Melting into a shiny reflective pool. It began to rise once again, assuming a very simple humanoid form. Seconds later, its texture changed from a metallic one to a bronze-like tan, while long strands of platinum hair extended from the rather feminine form.
"Hold on! You're..." started Urd, as the entity in front of her was clearly assuming her appearance.
"Reprogramming of physical configuration complete." Examining itself, the shape-shifter was apparently not bothered by the fact that it hadn't copied Urd's clothes at all.
"Don't look!" The embarrassed Goddess of the Lake reached over and covered Keiichi's eyes, who was wondering what kind of troubles this new resident would bring them. "A married man shouldn't stare bare women like this!"
"Correction. Only 40% of my runtimes have an inherently female configuration. The rest have a predominant male one, although, this doesn't affect my ability to assume forms, functional or not." Explaining itself in a more natural manner of speaking, Excalibur was now using the Norn's voice instead of its own, mechanical one.
"Wait... Female configuration?... And what do you mean that 60% of you is male? Your programming?" asked the confused half goddess.
"That's incorrect. I am a collective mind of thousands of individuals who populate my neural network and cover my essential power demands," said Excalibur.
There was something really wrong with that explanation, and while part of her didn't want to know, Urd's curiosity eventually won. "You're made out of individuals? Like... processors, right?"
"You're partially correct. However, each one of my processors is connected with an extremely low level Earth Spirit, in order to gain more capabilities, as well as energy. In the most technical terms, I'm partially alive, with the rest of my chassis being synthetic." The Norn's doppelganger observed the rather surprised and somewhat horrified expression on the half goddess' face.
"No way! Who authorized such a thing?!" asked Urd, not wanting to believe that, Asgard thought that using living beings in such a fashion was even a great idea.
"The Council."
"I... Just put something on and we'll see what we can do about you," said Urd, turning to Laguz. "You knew about this?"
"Yes, I did. One of the reasons why that sword was given to me was the ethically hard decisions behind its commission," answered the blonde, pausing for a few seconds. "I suppose that they wanted to get the... How do they say it these days? Get the proverbial hot potato off their hands?"
"Okay! That's enough for now! And you! Put something on, will you! We'll talk about it later.."
XXX
Sitting around the low table in the living room, most of the residents were peacefully drinking their tea, as if everything was normal. Except that there were two goddesses of the past, or rather... one and her copy.
"That's quite a relief, Urd," said Belldandy as she studied the two of them, searching for any differences. "I was worried that you had been separated again. Thankfully that wasn't the case..."
"Are you sure that you're okay with all this? After all, that's a weapon," said Urd, giving a pointed look at her double. "Is it even safe to keep it here."
"It should be," said Lind, getting everyone's attention. "Despite your objections about its origins, it shouldn't pose us any threat. At least not while it follows its prime directives."
"Um... is that like the three laws of robotics?" asked Keiichi, remembering the rules that were devised by the popular science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.
"Not exactly. We have a lot more rules to make sure that one of our AIs isn't going mad on us," explained Lind. "Normally I'd send it back at Valhalla, but, given its... status, I'm not certain. We have other similar units, although this is the only one that involved living beings in its construction and as a result, the most controversial."
"Still, I've got no intention to have another copy of myself walking around," said Urd with a frown. "If it's going to stay, then it'll have to pick a form of its own."
"That is arrangeable. I'll have to spend some time overnight to generate a more unique appearance, as requested." Pleased with its independent decision, Excalibur decided to try a bit of the hot beverage, they called tea.
"Oh, you can drink?" asked a curious Belldandy.
"Yes indeed. I can consume food as well," replied the shape-shifter, making Urd roll her eyes at her lookalike, while Skuld was thoroughly interested.
"How cool... I want one," said the goddess of the future, earning a few laughs from all around the room.
Observing the others around him, Keiichi couldn't avoid but think of how unusual everything in his house was. Most other families at this time of the year would've been busy with the preparations for the new year. It was only a couple of hours away, and yet, they seemed to act as if nothing was amiss. 'After all, what's another year for someone that's several millennia old?'
"By the way, Skuld..." said Belldandy, grabbing her youngest sister's attention. "Have you got those special bombs ready?"
"Yes, oneesama! I've got Sigel working on them for a while now," said the Norn of the future with pride. "They're ready for tonight's countdown!"
"Huh? What are you two talking about?" asked the curious mortal.
"Oh, I've felt that it would've been nice to have some fireworks for the celebration of the new year. After all, that's what a lot of humans are doing, here on Earth."
"Really?" asked Keiichi. He was rather happy to hear that his wife wanted to have something like that, until he started to become nervous. "Um... Do you think that it's safe?"
Getting the meaning behind his words, Skuld wasn't extremely pleased with the apparent lack of confidence in her abilities. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean, mister?"
Waiving his hands in front of him, Keiichi tried to appease the little goddess. "Nothing! I'm just concerned about... the neighbors! Yes! They might complain about the noise..."
"According to my calculations, there is 70% probability that the mortal unit is acting in a deceitful manner." Observing the various looks around the table, Excalibur decided to provide a more simplified version of his conclusion. "In other words, he's lying."
"I know that, thank you very much!" said the goddess of the future, with a huff. "He probably thinks that I'm going to blow the house or something..."
"Don't be like that, Skuld. Everyone here knows that this residence was destroyed a fair amount of times already. If nothing, it's going to be the new year's first house demolition," said Belldandy with a smile, before she noticed the stares she got from around the table. "Um... Did I say anything wrong?"
"Not really... It's just a bit... Too... honest, I guess," said Urd, trying to find a polite way of expressing her thoughts. It was true that there were times that, Belldandy was a bit blunt, although, she most likely wasn't doing it on purpose.
"Anyway! I've got a nice show for tonight!" said Skuld, leaving Keiichi a bit uncertain about that.
'That's what worries me the most...'
XXX
It was only a couple of minutes til the moment that everyone waited for, and Belldandy along with Frigg had managed to bake a few delicacies for the night.
Meanwhile, Skuld and her two robots were busy setting up a series of tubes that were meant for launching the fireworks. Connecting more than a dozen cables in a firing board that the young inventor made just for the occasion, she was trying to check if all of them were carrying the signals properly.
"Excellent! Now, the only thing that remains is to connect the timer and we're officially done!" Pleased with the result, the young goddess turned to Sigel, who was already installing the tiny digital device to the firing board.
"Everything's fine, Skuld-sama!"
Smiling back at her gynoid, the Norn of the future put her tools away. "Good! Let's go back with the others and have some muffins before the show starts!"
Gathered in front of the house, everyone was seated in the middle of a clearing that they've made in the snow covered temple grounds. They've even set up a large tablecloth on the ground, just like a picnic, despite the rather low temperature.
"I think that this is the best way to say farewell to the old year," said Belldandy, taking a seat next to her husband, causing him to blush.
Of course, the fact that pretty much everyone had to squeeze together in the same small area had contributed as well. With so many attractive goddesses around him, Keiichi was worried that the fireworks wouldn't be the only thing that might cause an explosion tonight. Thankfully, Belldandy's bracelet had proven to do its job, but, he was always careful not to try and see how far he could go. Not that he intended to do that on purpose, of course. Things like that happened from time to time and it was usually a bit too late to stop them.
"Yeah... That's what I'm thinking, as well," said the embarrassed mortal. He thought that maybe a kiss could be nice, but then again, this wasn't a private moment. Actually, he did notice that more than half of the goddesses were intently observing them, probably hoping for some nice interaction between them.
Unfortunately, they weren't very discreet, and as such, it was painfully obvious that they were staring at them. To the point where they shamelessly leaned closer for a better look, which made even Belldandy a bit self aware about her proximity to her husband and the fact that they were holding hands.
Meanwhile, Skuld was having an inner battle of her own, as old habits were apparently dictating her to grab one of her bombs and blast the impudent mortal away from her beloved sister. She had managed to stop herself at the last moment, though, before she pulled the Neo Skuld bomb out of her blouse and hurl it.
Given its current state of training, Excalibur was rather interested at the seemingly incomprehensible act of leaning towards a certain direction. Still, as this was for the sake of understanding social reactions, its runtimes gave a 59% approval at imitating the act. Assuming a similar pose as Urd, the shape-shifter tried to use what little space there was left on the tablecloth, and eventually came into contact with the half goddess.
"Whoa! You weight a ton!" Not anticipating the sudden amount of force applied on her back, she moved forward, bumping into Peorth, which resulted into a domino effect.
"That's incorrect, actually. I'm roughly a quarter of a metric ton," explained the shape-shifter, ignoring the scene of total disaster that unfolded in front of its optical sensors.
The last person to get pushed was Skuld, who fell backwards into the soft snow with a surprised squeak. However, as the young goddess' hand was removed from her blouse, she carried the explosive with her as well, and involuntarily tossed it towards the direction of the house, attracting Excalibur's attention.
'Caution: Explosive munition detected. Activating point defense measures. Deploying [high impact anti-materiel particle canon].'
Extending its right arm, the flesh turned into the same liquified metal before it reconfigured into a long barrel that tracked the bomb's trajectory in the air. Milliseconds later it opened fire, vaporizing its airborne target, but, the energy shell was apparently way too powerful and simply continued towards the house.
Before anyone could say or do anything, the Morisato residence was one more... gone, blown into smithereens.
"Do you have any idea what the word 'overkill' means?!" shouted the indignant goddess of the past. "What happened to all that talk about maintaining order and stuff?"
"It's a lower priority. The house can be restored," said the shape-shifter, changing its arm back into normal.
"Well... It's not like the first time that we saw that happen..." added Peorth, with a sideways glance.
"That's true... Although, I don't approve the way you look at me," shot Urd back.
The bickering came to an abrupt stop as, one after the other, Skuld's fireworks started to shot up to the night sky. Exploding in a variety of colors and configurations, they were enough of a distraction to make everyone forget about everything and enjoy the show.
Realizing that nobody was paying attention them anymore, Keiichi decided to give his wife a kiss, before the others noticed them. "Happy new year, Belldandy!"
"Happy new year, Keiichi!" was the reply, as she kissed him back. "I suppose that's a good way to leave the old one behind us."
"I think so." Laughing a bit, Keiichi turned back to the fireworks show that was about to come to an end. "Just another year, huh?"
Nodding enthusiastically. The brunette goddess couldn't agree more. "Yes! And I think it's going to be a good one, too!"
AN: I would like to thank everyone that has offered their feedback and support both here and on the Goddess Relief site.
There are a few things that I'd like to note for this chapter.
First and foremost, happy new year! I hope that 2015 will bring you everything that you wish!
I'd also like to apologize for the sheer length of this chapter, but, I wanted to get the new years eve out of the story. Of course, it's probably late for the actual date in the real world, although not by that much (far less compared to the situation where I would've split this into two chapters).
Additionally, I'd like to thank HotelKatz for suggesting Urd giving Belldandy some advice at not misusing her physical relationship with Keiichi. It matched the rest of the things that I wanted her to discuss with her sister and made that conversation a bit more interesting in my opinion.
Given the short jump between the last few days of the year, I had to bring up the situation with the sword as I've felt that it would've been unrealistic if nobody noticed it for that long. Perhaps it was a bit sooner than I had originally intended (a chapter or two maybe), but, it looks that the Morisato residence already has another member and this one is a bit strange. Also, its appearance is only temporary and will assume a different one in the next chapter.
The prime directives and the discussion about the three laws of robotics is not only something from popular science fiction, but, a reference to one of the manga's arcs (the one with Dr Morrow). However, most of Lind's statement is actually incorrect, since Excalibur's primary directives were more or less deleted. She doesn't know that, though, so she provided whatever information she considered as valid.
Thankfully, with no more deadlines in the near future (like Christmas or the New Year's eve), I'd be able to move the story a bit more freely, without having a certain theme in the chapters. Especially now that Keiichi and Belldandy are back into Nekomi, I want to get back to their everyday lives. Of course, the last two chapters weren't unproductive by any means. Having Urd and Skuld work on Whirlwind for a bit longer was certainly something positive for every character involved.