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

"I knew she was an enemy! Playing coy until she got her chance to strike!"

Pacing around the living room where most of the goddesses had gathered, Lind was positively furious at the news of the demonic invasion that took place hours earlier. While she was preoccupied with pointless shopping, a battleship had managed to infiltrate Alfheim and for the Valkyrie that was simply unacceptable.

"You're misunderstanding something, Lind," said Belldandy, as she served everyone a hot cup of tea. "That took place after the demons had retreated from Alfheim. Hild must've been worried about Urd, not attempting to attack us or something like that."

"Yes, but..." started the Valkyrie, before she was interrupted by Frigg.

"She's right, you know. I understand how you feel, but trust me, there's no way she could've tried to attack all of us in a situation like that. Remember that she only had one thousandth of her real power, while we had the clear advantage of numbers," said the elder goddess, as she calmly took a sip from her tea.

Lind lowered her head, knowing that, Frigg was right, even if she didn't want to admit it. "I can't dispute that. Still..."

"Can you at least remove the barrier?" asked Keiichi, with a distinct sense of deja vu. "I've got to go to work tomorrow."

"Then pray that this is fixed quickly, that's all." In a rare display of sarcasm, the Valkyrie had simply offered him the same reply that she had a few years ago when she first arrived in this temple during the Angel Eater incident. Shaking her head, she reminded herself that taking her frustrations to her lifelong friend was neither fair nor something appropriate. Not only that, but, Urd and Peorth's laughter didn't make things better, either. "Fine... Fine... I'll..."

The sudden wailing sound of an alarm startled everyone, including Lind herself. However, unlike the rest of them she immediately sprang into action with a content smile, knowing that her hunch was right. The demons were certainly up to no good and the fact that one of them got caught by her barrier was more than enough to prove that she wasn't overreacting.

Summoning her combat uniform, she rushed out in the temple grounds, her axe at the ready to strike down the foe who dared to invade their residence. But, instead of a battle hardened demon, she found Welsper trapped inside a transparent ball. "I... forgot about him..."

"You know... I'm starting to think that you guys are doing this on purpose," grumbled the cursed cat, trying to cross his arms, or rather... his front legs. "First I've got that weapon chasing me, and now I'm inside an overgrown hamster ball..."

While the Valkyrie used a spell to unlock the unlucky feline from his predicament, Urd couldn't help but giggle at the whole scene. Still, this entire situation was far more serious that it seemed and if she had to be honest with herself, it wasn't something to laugh at. Like most other immortals at this time and age, the prospect of a large scale conflict seemed so unlikely that she never really worried too much about it. Of course, that didn't mean that there weren't other things to be careful about, as the Doublet System only prevented deaths. Everything else was pretty much allowed and as such, she had to keep an eye for any potential threats, which was more than enough in most cases.

And while that was true for everyone else, there was one amongst them who was utterly incapable of doing so; Keiichi. Being a mere mortal prevented him from having any powers that would ensure his safety in a case of an emergency. Although they had plenty of those in the past, most of them were triggered by demons who didn't really attempt to seriously harm or worse, outright kill him. The demonic military forces were a totally different matter, though, and in the event that he got in a situation where he was isolated from the rest of them, that could end up pretty badly for him.

As much as she'd have to forget about it, considering that such was the natural order of things and they'd all have to look after him, Urd knew that there was one particular alternative that she briefly considered, but, never came with a conclusion about it; the angel egg that her mother sent several days ago. Even after she learned more about it from Loki, the goddess of the past was reluctant to present it to Keiichi, fearing that despite her extensive tests there was always the possibility that she could've overlooked something crucial about that underpowered angel, as it was described by in the letter that came along with it.

Perhaps it was time to offer that option to her brother-in-law, hoping that this wouldn't turn up like the incident with Blue Lance, since this one wasn't supposed to put such a strain on the mortal's body. Of course, there was no way to tell how useful an underpowered angel could be during an emergency, but then again, leaving Keiichi totally defenseless wasn't a much better alternative either.

'Okay... Let's try this and see what he's going to say. After all, he might just reject the offer, so, worrying about it won't make any difference.'

XXX

Ithavoll, Asgard

Rubbing his temples, the celestial leader was clearly having a bad day that just got worse. Not only he had to deal with a disastrous meeting with the two Councils that lasted for several hours, but in the end, they accomplished absolutely nothing more than bickering, accusations, and all sorts of unnecessary drama. Of course, when those overly concerned individuals were the same ones who had previously denied Freyr the essential means for protecting Alfheim, Tyr couldn't avoid but feel that they were just a bunch of hypocrites only caring about their public image.

The demonic invasion hadn't been the sole subject of that meeting, though. Several Councilors had expressed their distress at the news of Loki's assignment as the Head Technician of the Yggdrasil mainframe; a hasty decision taken by Ansuz without informing anybody else. And while Tyr had given her explicit orders to fix the problem by any means necessary, there were those who believed that they should've been asked, a notion that the Daitenkaicho had disputed.

In all honesty, he felt more motivated than ever to get to the bottom of that background check on them, given the splitting headache that some of those imbeciles had given him. Instead of focusing on how to prevent such any similar incident from happening again in the future, they spent hours in an unproductive display of a power struggle, trying to determine how much influence they were supposed to have. And in an effort to hide their real intentions, some tried to indirectly accuse him of incompetence, as if the whole situation had been solely his fault to begin with.

It was particularly infuriating that amongst them were the Councilors who originally supported Regin, the very god whose ineptitude was in fact what allowed the demons to stage that operation in the first place. Expecting their enemies to play nice as their first line of defense was a foolish practice that even children would've condemned, and yet it was the unofficial policy of that clown who dared to call himself a tech expert.

At the very least he had the satisfaction of telling one of his most vocal critic to shut up. Thrivaldi had been a thorn on his side for millennia and Tyr recalled Hild's advice to try and bait his opponents until he got the opportunity to crush them. Just years ago, he would've outright refused such an underhanded method, as it clashed with his modus operandi. However, having a coward accuse him of doing nothing while the vile demons marched through Alfheim, sounded particularly hypocritical coming from the very god who was primarily responsible for their poor security, being one of Regin's strongest sponsors.

Even worse, all that drama about the hapless and defenseless Earth Spirits was abhorrent, given that he was a livid proponent of the Judgement Gate and personally, Tyr had no doubt that he was a xenophobe. If nothing, the Daitenkaicho hated pretenders like him, who only acted as if they really cared whenever it seemed to be beneficial to their cause.

And if all that wasn't bad enough already, he got even worse news about the status of the Judgement Gate, something that his enemies would love to use against him. Staring at Ansuz and Loki who had been quietly waiting his response for several minutes, Tyr wondered what he should actually tell them. Obviously, he felt that the Test was necessary to determine whether or not a cross species couple was strong enough to stay together, despite that hardships that life would throw at them. Still, there was a tiny part of him that would've loved to see that thing lost, although, using his own experiences as a basis for making decisions was something unfit for a leader.

Narrowing his eyes at his adopted brother, Tyr wasn't going to let him do whatever he wanted, especially since he possessed such a crucial post, now. "Let me ask you again. You think that you've got the authority to remove the Judgement Gate from the Bifrost network?"

"I'm expected to prevent any potential threat to our system, and you know that simple fact all too well, brother. Such is the duty of the Head Technician of the Yggdrasil mainframe since ancient times, and nothing you or the esteemed Councils say or do will change that." Returning the glare, Loki seemed to have lost his typically joyous and goofy personality and replaced it with one that would've made any Daimakaicho proud. "So, find other means to perform this shameless display of discrimination and leave my department alone. I may have done a lot of dirty, underhanded and downright wrong things in my life, but, there always comes a moment where you to have draw the line at some point; and this is where I say that enough is enough."

"Don't give me a lesson in ethics, Loki!" shouted Tyr at his defiant subordinate. "This is a matter of complying to your obligations!"

"My obligations are the very thing that prevents me from doing what you want. Installing a global backdoor to the system? Do you have any idea what kind of damage it could cause if someone manages to exploit its unprecedented access to every single subsystem that we've got? And don't let me even start at its laughable security, which was advertised as impossible to break!" spat Loki back at his brother. "You of all gods had proven that it's entirely feasible to hack into the Gate! How long do you think it's going to take before others will realize the implications and try to achieve absolute control of our entire mainframe? Then what, jackass?"

"Watch your tongue, you insufferable troll!" shot Tyr back, slamming his hand on the desk.

Not looking concerned, the god of mischief crossed his arms, his face twisted in an angry snarl. "Or what, coward? It took mother's threat to finally make you try to control the Councils, and all that resolve suddenly vanished the first moment you hit a hurdle with that demonic invasion. Guess what? Bad stuff happens all the time, there's no need to get all defensive in front of a bunch of lazy morons who do absolutely nothing beyond scratching each others' backs. I've watched that pathetic excuse of a meeting and like many others wondered just who runs this bloody place. You or them? Answer me!"

"I do!"

"Good! Then start acting like that, too! And to begin with, why don't you kick some those worthless fools out of the Councils? Most of them are more than happy to offer their criticism, but no... when it comes to dirty work they leave it to others, just to deny any association and maintain their perfect facade. You know what? Screw them! If they want to act like the misanthropic racists they truly are then they should go and separate all those couples by themselves, instead of leaving the job to your wife and my department!" Turning around, Loki headed for the door, leaving his stunned brother and the equally shocked Ansuz behind.

"Hold it! Where do you think that you're going?" asked Tyr. "We're not done!"

"Yes, we are. I'll never implement that nonsense and for the sake of defending the system's integrity, I'm taking the mater to the only authority that can even defy yours; the Presiding Celestial Court. Then we're going to see whose interpretation of our most ancient of laws is right," said Loki. "And with the jury being our entire species, its verdict cannot be disputed by those charlatans you call Councilors."

Tyr could hardly believe his ears. Going to that particular court could potentially have severe consequences if his brother won the case. "You're starting a trial over this?"

"It's amongst my rights to deny an order that clashes with the fundamental laws of Asgard that date back to the very foundation of our realm, the very same ones that all your predecessors had signed and verified as just and honorable," explained Loki, opening the door. "I'll see you in the courtroom, brother."

Slamming the door behind him, the troublemaker left a very disturbed Daitenkaicho, who was now facing the possibility of becoming the first one whose orders were overruled by Asgard's supreme court. "Ansuz... What are going to do?'

"Honestly? I doubt that we can win the case. Regardless of our personal opinions on the matter, if he manages to prove beyond any doubt that the Judgement Gate was a serious security concern... then we're all going to be utterly humiliated and for the first time in history, our law will be annulled," explained Ansuz with a frown. "I... regret to say this, but... if we can't beat him, then... we might as well join him."

"Unbelievable!... What a mess..." pinching the bridge of his nose, Tyr realized that in the worst case scenario, the only ones who would actually benefit from that were the same Councilors who supported that measure in the first place and now accused him for incompetence. "Listen, we cannot allow Loki to file a case against me. Instead, we've got to file a case against the Councils, provided the new information that came to light due to the recent events. That way, the ones who were truly responsible will have to explain themselves rather than gaining from proving me wrong. Even if it was due to their pressure to pass that measure in the first place."

"Understood. I'll go and file that lawsuit at once." Pausing for a moment, before she turned to leave, the goddess added something else that she remembered. "And who knows... maybe if they are found guilty, then it would make that other investigation of yours much easier."

Wincing a bit at the jab, Tyr nodded, not wanting to bring up that particular conversation. "Yes, I think so, too."

Meanwhile, in one of Ithavoll's spacious corridors, Loki was listening to the audio feed of one of his numerous bugs that he had in his brother's office.

'It's so simple, that sometimes I feel sorry for the poor guy... Oh well, I can get him a pair of socks for his birthday or something. Now... I need to go and make the necessary preparations so that I can help him win this case...'

XXX

Permafrost Penitentiary Facility Alpha, Jotunheim

"Move it, slackers! We've got better things to do than waste our time with the likes of you!"

Looking from behind a one way mirror, Bergelmir supervised the sealing procedure of the captured Earth Spirits as it was conducted by the wardens of one of the highest security prisons in Jotunheim. In all honesty, his presence was unnecessary, since it was a trivial routine that would only take a couple of minutes to finish. Nothing particularity important for the head of Ratatoskr to make the trip all the way from castle Utgard to this remote location of the ice realm.

After all, none of the prisoners were considered to be dangerous or even powerful enough to require some special attention, but, the demon's primary reason for being here was the cloaked individual that stood next to him. Dressed in a dark outfit with a matching hooded robe on top, he could've been easily mistaken for one of Ratatoskr's agents, even if he lacked the typical red trim, which was substituted with a golden one instead. However, the most striking features of that individual were the sheer number of seals that were mostly concealed by his robe and the wooden staff he carried around, which was covered with all sorts of ancient runes.

"This was a foolish idea, Bergelmir. You should all consider yourselves lucky that the gods are too cowardly these days to retaliate."

"I must admit that you're absolutely right, my lord. It wasn't one of the most carefully planned operation that Skrymir-sama came up with," replied the head of Ratatoskr, checking once again to make sure that there was nobody else in the observation room to hear them.

"The thing is that it wasn't just his idea, and that's where the problem lies. At any rate, like I said, there was no serious damage this time, although, I've got a feeling that it's not completely over, yet. Keep monitoring Asgard for any developments, I want no surprises," ordered the cloaked figure.

"Of course. That's exactly what we intended to do, after all. Tyr isn't the most suitable god to face an internal crisis, so..." started Bergelmir, before he was interrupted by his associate's sneer.

"Tyr is the least capable son of that moron. Which makes him the absolutely worst candidate for the role of the Daitenkaicho. Either Frigg or Njord would've done a much better job, as they both possess the required experience and above all, common sense. But... if they were so damn desperate to find a replacement goldfish for Odin, they should've picked one of his other sons, like Thor for example." Shaking his head, he sometimes couldn't understand what sort of criteria those foolish celestials used for making those choices.

"I'm fairly certain that both Frigg and Thor were asked and they turned down the offer. Now, on the other hand, Njord was indeed a great option and yet he had very few supporters. Instead, everyone went for Tyr, although, Baldr was also considered as a much better candidate, but eventually ruled out due to his young age and inexperience at that point of time," said Bergelmir, trying to recall those events that took place millennia ago. "Still, I don't think that the Doublet System would've been accepted if anyone else had that position during the beginning of Hild-sama's first term."

"Maybe... But, gullibility shouldn't be listed as an asset. Only Hild saw the long term benefits of such a proposal, no matter how cruel it originally appeared to be. That whelp only waged his tail, hoping for a treat like the good pet he was. And apparently, that's all he's really good at," spat the dark figure. "He can't even come up with a proper test for his son-in-law. A race? Really? How the Hell that's gonna determine whether or not that mortal was suitable as a goddess' husband? Or even more... becoming an artificial celestial..."

"To be fair, if he had any idea how such tests worked, he wouldn't had failed that one back when..." started Bergelmir, only to stop abruptly when he accidentally brought that subject up.

"No argument there. The fact that a dumb mortal passed it, speaks volumes by itself. Besides, the outcome could've been reduced pointless if he crashed the Ultimate Force server a few times. When put under significant stress, that poorly written nonsense keeps failing, and recently they had to whitelist a mortal because his wish to have a goddess by his side brought that particular subsystem down. But... that's too much to expect from someone who's too indecisive to act for his own family's sake," said the hooded figure, as his red cat-like eyes stared at the Earth Spirits who were waiting in a line to get sealed. "Then we wouldn't have a Daimakaicho with a death curse on her, just because she was prohibited to hack into the Yggdrasil mainframe and use that much simpler method."

Silence filled the room, as the head of Ratatoskr opted to avoid answering, feeling that this conversation was heading towards dangerous territory. Instead, he picked the list of the Earth Spirits and tried to change the topic to something far less serious. "My lord, that's what our authorities had proposed for their sentences. Most are going to get sealed for a few years, except for that last one. Skrymir-sama wants him to stay for a couple of centuries at the very least, and if possible 'get misplaced' during that time."

Turning around, the dark clad figure headed away from the observation window heading towards the exit. "Very well. In the meanwhile, send someone to keep an eye on that mortal. He may seem useless right now, but, I've got a feeling that this might change soon."

"Yes, my lord."

XXX

Muspelheim, Central Command Center

"I swear she always comes up with such crazy ideas!"

Letting a tired sigh, Hrym followed his not so happy boss, who kept mumbling as they headed towards the local Registry and License Department.

"Take care of Urd-chan, she says..." said the frustrated demon. "Now, I'm a bloody babysitter! What's next? Start delivering toys for good children once every year?"

Trying hard not to laugh at the mental image of his superior in a red Santa suit, sitting on a sleigh, Hrym attempted to remind him of how lucky they were to get out of that situation unscathed. "But... sir! It could've been a lot worse! Commandeering Naglfar or any other ship under Hild-sama's control is a serious offense. Not only we got away with it, but, we've managed to actually keep the ship as well. I thought that those were great news, indeed..."

"Yeah yeah... I hear you..." grumbled Surt, getting into the office, drawing a lot of worried looks. "What's their problem?"

"They probably think that someone's going to have his license suspended, sir," suggested the half demon, as they approached the nearest desk.

"If that was the case, then I wouldn't had come here in person." Turning to the demoness behind the terminal, the leader of Muspelheim offered her an empty application form. "I want a first class, unlimited license arranged for the half demoness by the name Urd, daughter of Hild. She will be visiting our realm and for the sake of properly training her, I need something better than a visitor's permit."

"Of course, sir! One moment to fill this for you! Please have a seat!" offered the demoness at the front desk, trying to sound as helpful as possible. After all, it wasn't every day that her ruler walked into the office like that.

"Very well." Taking a seat, the ruler of Muspelheim eyed around the room for one of the few things that could be found on all public building in his realm; an automated coffee machine. Pointing at the device, he didn't actually need to say anything, knowing that Hrym got the message.

Grumbling quietly, the half demon returned back with a cup of long black for his boss and a cappuccino for himself. "There you go, sir."

"Thanks... I needed this after than nonsensical meeting..." Taking a moment to enjoy his coffee, Surt wondered what he was supposed to do with Hild's daughter. The request was fairly simple, but, he had no delusions that this was going to go smoothly, given that girl's strong feelings towards her demonic heritage. And with his notorious temper added into the mix, there was no doubt that the result was going to be rather explosive. 'Train her to become a competent demoness... Sure... What could possibly go wrong with that?... At least, I'm not the sucker who's gonna tell her the news.'

"The license's ready, sir!" said the demonic employee, happy that she finished the paperwork before her leader had to wait for too long. Perhaps, this meant a possible promotion in the near future, and with a smile, she handed him the filled card. "At the moment, the license is inactive, but, once your daughter comes here, she will be granted the full privileges of a first class demoness."

Surt was about to accept the card and offer her his thanks for a job well done, when he froze in place, processing her last sentence. There was something very wrong there and it wasn't some ingrate putting sugar into his coffee; as a matter of fact, it was far worse. "Wait! My... what?!"

"Your... daughter?..." said the demoness, who finally caught up, and for a brief moment she feared that she had said something really stupid. Turning back to her terminal in panic, she typed the request once again and the result wasn't any different than before. To make sure that this wasn't a glitch in the system, she even tried to bring Urd's birth certificate and the names listed there ruled out the possibility that it was their software acting up. "S-Sir... A-According to the d-documents, she's registered under your name..."

"Impossible!" shouted the baffled Eldjotunn. "Let me see!"

Floating over to the other side of the desk, the furious demon stared the holographic display in front of him in disbelief. Sure, this was a legitimate looking certificate, although, it made no sense to him. He had been present present when Hild originally filed the document and he was absolutely certain that she hadn't listed him as the father. No matter how much she loved to pull silly pranks, this was way beyond a joke. As a matter of fact, he was horrified that such an error hadn't been detected before. "That... makes no sense... And she's listed as hybrid, too. How the Hell is that possible when both parents are supposed to be demons?"

"Uh... sir? I'm technically a half demon and both my parents were..." started Hrym, only to quickly regret the decision to open his mouth.

"You're a special case! Stuff happened! This is different! Who filed that damned application in the first place?" shouted Surt, making most demons present shake from fear. "I demand a name!"

"Sir, the process is closely monitored with several automated safety measures in place to prevent anything suspicious," offered Hrym, seeing that most others weren't brave enough to reply. "At the very least, we would've been informed about an attempt, and clearly that wasn't the case."

"I know that! Still... Someone's got their hand in this, and the ones who handled the physical application form are the most likely suspects. So? Who was it?" asked Surt, not wanting to whoever was responsible to get away with it.

"I'm afraid that he's not here, sir," said the demon in charge of this particular department, as he reluctantly approached the irate Eldjotnar. "Galar was punished for attempting to restore his brother's license after the latter got a suspension. He's still sealed and during the extensive investigation for any other misdeeds, there was no further evidence to imply his involvement in anything else."

"Is that so? Well... In that case, get me the hard-copy of Urd's birth certificate. I need to fix this mess. Got it?" asked Surt. "And that goes for all of you! Leave whatever you're currently doing and go fetch me that bloody application!"

As all the workers rushed to the department's vault, the scene around Surt resembled one of the emergency evacuation drills that he occasionally enjoyed to put his subjects through. While combat exercises were far most interesting in his opinion, he couldn't deny the comedic aspect of having a bunch of demons running around the place. In a way, that brought back memories of his earlier days as recruit in Muspelheim's forces. However, his trip on the memory lane was brought to an end when he noticed Hrym, who was happily taking a long sip from his cappuccino.

Realizing that his boss was pointedly staring at him, the half demon wondered what the problem was. "Uh... Is there something wrong, sir?"

"Hrym... Which part of everyone you didn't get?" asked Surt, narrowing his eyes at his second in command. "Go with the rest of them! Now!"

Not wanting to further anger his superior, Hrym hurried to the vault, leaving the leader of Muspelheim alone. This was getting increasingly bizarre and the more he thought about it, the less sense it actually made. After all, the modification in Urd's birth certificate was completely pointless, as it changed absolutely nothing of great importance. If anyone wanted to gain something out of this situation, Surt had no idea what that happened to be.

'Seriously... who in their right minds break into our system for the sake of altering her father's name? Come on, there's got to be a motive, right?' wondered Surt, before another realization hit him. It wasn't common knowledge that, Urd was actually born in this realm. Despite the fact that her mother had moved to Niflheim when she attained the Daimakaicho's title, she wished her daughter to originate from the same realm as her. 'In other words... It was someone who knew where she was actually registered. Unless... they got access from the central database in Niflheim... Which is supposed to be even better guarded than ours, under the direct control of Ratatoskr. Did they messed up?'

"Sir, we've got a problem."

Looking over at Hrym who just returned from the vault, Surt grimaced. "Tell me you can't find it!... That's the last thing we need right now!..."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. We have located Urd's birth certificate," said the half demon, handing the hard-copy to his superior. "As you can clearly see, there's nothing wrong with her registration info, as all the information is indeed correct."

"Then what's the bloody problem? That's what we wanted, right?" said the baffled demon, trying to understand what was wrong here.

"Well... In the process of searching for her family files we discovered that she had no other documents to verify her lineage, sir. There's no birth certificate for Hild-sama and the same goes for her parents, too. Worse, we tried to find more about them and they're absolutely no evidence that they even existed in the first place," explained Hrym with some concern.

"How's that..." Turning around he went to the console next to him and tried to make a search for their Daimakaicho's personal information. "Here! There's nothing wrong with her profile, everything's there!"

"With all due respect sir, but, according to the system you're Urd's father..." pointed out the half demon, trying not to sound too sarcastic. "And we both know that it's not true, so..."

Surt tried to come up with something to counter that argument and as much as he wanted, he found nothing. He was right, if someone's messed around with Urd's files, then it was entirely feasible that the same could've happened with the rest of her family. However, this was starting to sound a lot more serious than he had originally expected. It was one thing to have a simple name field changed in some application, and a totally different thing to have nonexistent demons in the system. 'Come to think of it, she was listed as an orphan, right? Hmm... I wonder...'

"Sir? What are we going to do about this?" asked Hrym, when he got no reply from his boss.

"For the time being, this is top secret. If anyone mentions anything, seal them immediately," said Surt with a snarl. "Start a thorough investigation, and in the meanwhile, I'm going to Niflheim and get some answers."

"Yes, sir."

XXX

"That's rather intriguing... An angel egg?"

Looking at her middle sister, Urd offered her the letter Hild included in the package. "Yes, albeit a weak one. Here, read this, although I'm not certain how much I could trust it, if I were you."

Since it was written in runes, the goddess of the present decided to read it for her husband, who was sitting next to her with a perplexed expression.

'Dear Belldandy,

I would like to thank you for your effort in playing your part in the recent events that allowed me to get myself back in the position of the Daimakaicho for the second time. As such, I cannot ignore the fact that I do indeed owe you a favor and as a demon, it is imperative that I have to repay my debt. This egg was originally meant for my daughter as an effort to create the perfect angel for her. I must admit that I have never liked those angels that you rely on so much, so I decided to create one that would negate most of the weaknesses that they posses. Unfortunately in doing so, I have also taken away most of the strengths as well and left it in an extremely weakened state, incapable to fully bond with anyone. As such I have never given it to Urd, as it would be utterly useless to her, but I assume that your new husband might find it useful. Since he seems to be capable of sustaining a fully powered angel for a while, it should be no problem to support this low powered angel for extended periods of time as it wouldn't drain him nearly as much. It will be something that he may find definitely handy one day.

Best regards,

Daimakaicho Hild'

"So... This is some kind of reward?" asked Keiichi with some skepticism. "I don't want to sound ungrateful, but... It is really safe? I mean... it sounds too good to be true."

"I'm fully aware of that fact, and that was the reason why I never gave it to you. Despite all the extensive testing that revealed nothing harmful, I was still very reluctant to believe that the Daimakaicho would've simply given such a thing without any personal profit," explained Urd with a sigh. "I even managed to find the person who originally modified the egg to its current low-power configuration, and he's not the most reliable of gods... And in case you're wondering, I'm talking about Loki."

"I can understand your doubts, neesan. However, you should consider the fact that it's unlikely for Hild to lie on a situation like this. While demons might be deceitful, when it comes to official matters, they do keep their word, and a document carrying their leader's signature is one of those cases. Besides, if uncle Loki verified that this was meant for you, then I don't think that it was meant to harm you," said Belldandy as she examined the angel egg.

"That's... true. He did confirm that it was his work and originally intended for me," admitted the Norn of the past. "So, what do you think? Providing that it's absolutely safe?

Keiichi scratched his head for a while. He had been watching the whole exchange silently, and the whole situation brought him memories of the time he was Blue Lance's host. No matter how much he tried, it proved almost impossible to properly maintain an angel and in the end he had to pass the purified devil to Welsper, to avoid reverting it back into an egg. "I don't know... Last time it didn't work out very well. I could barely support an angel and even then, I had very little control of her. We could simply repeat the same mistake, and besides... What do I even need an angel for?"

"Normally I'd agree, but, if this one proves to work as intended, then it won't strain your body as much. Also, controlling it won't be a problem if the angel doesn't possess too much power," explained Urd. "Now... To answer your other question... Having an angel can be quite beneficial in case of an emergency. I won't lie to you Keiichi, but, you're very fragile. As a mortal your body is extremely vulnerable to all sorts of threats and while you've got that amulet from Loki, I seriously doubt that it'll prove useful in a situation where you'll have to protect yourself from a threat."

Belldandy frowned as she pondered whether someone could possibly manage to get close to her husband for the sake of harming him. Most of the challenges they had faced in the past few years were rather tame compared to an all out attack with lethal intent towards Keiichi. Even after Hild's arrival, none of her plans included anything extremely dangerous for him, but, if demons had no problem to invade one of their realms, killing him would've been a trivial thing for them. "Neesan... do you really think that things will get that bad?"

"I doesn't matter what I think, Belldandy. A few hours ago I would've never expected something like that to happen, and yet it did. So, preparing for the worst isn't gonna harm anyone, at the very least, it's gonna give Keiichi a new opportunity," said Urd with a wink. "For beginners, once he gets an angel, he'll be able to talk to Holy Bell."

"Talk to her?" wondered the young mechanic. "Uh... come to think of it, I don't remember hearing any of the angels back when I had Blue Lance. Even my communication with that angel was problematic."

"Keiichi, unlike angels, devils don't share such a deep connection with their host. This simply means, that whoever has one of them needs to have certain abilities to properly access them. Both celestials and demons meet the necessary requirements to do that on their own, without any further assistance. Mortals on the other hand... well... let's just say that it's impossible, even under ideal conditions," explained Urd. "This angel should give you what you lack in order to properly communicate with it. Not to mention with all the others that are around her, including Holy Bell."

"That would be really nice," offered Belldandy, trying to voice her angel's opinion. She was a bit sad that her husband wasn't able to talk to her symbiont, but for the most part, she had decided that this was the way things were. However, with this new opportunity, the brunette goddess felt that they could get rid of that restriction in their relationship.

"I... can we revert it back into an egg if things go wrong?" asked Keiichi, trying to make sure that they wouldn't harm the poor angel if he wasn't capable of supporting it.

"Of course! And with so many of us here, that won't be a problem at all, offered Urd in a reassuring tone, as Belldandy nodded at her husband, smiling.

Taking a deep breath, Keiichi had to rely on their confidence, since he was an expert in mechanics, not angels. "Okay!... Let's do it!"

XXX

Gathered in a big circle in the living room, all the goddesses waited for what was about to be the day's big event. Unexpected as it was, witnessing Keiichi having his angel egg was something that none of the assorted celestials wanted to miss. As a matter of fact, even a grumbling cursed demon was forced to join the ceremony, even if he really wished to be anywhere but there; his devil being the only reason he had to go through that.

"Um... Now what?" asked Keiichi, feeling way too nervous as he saw everyone's eyes trained at him.

"Just swallow it, dummy!" offered Urd with a chuckle. "Even Skuld managed to do that much!"

"Hey! I take offense at that comment!" shouted the insulted little goddess, who was about to grab one of her bombs, before her grandmother stopped her, by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Now now... don't do anything like that, Skuld-chan." Turning to Keiichi, Frigg offered him a smile in order to calm him down. "Please relax a bit. This is an important event, not a dangerous one, so, there's not a significant chance for things to go really bad..."

"Wait! What do you mean by that?" asked the worried mortal, taking a second look at the tiny egg that still rested on his palm. Before he could go any further with his inquiry, the sound of a loud snort interrupted him.

"Oh, come on! Don't be such a wuss and get this over with!" From his perch on top of the TV, Welsper rolled his eyes, not particularly happy with the prospect that his rival was going to obtain yet another edge over him. An angel would've allowed that annoying mortal to get even closer to the lovely Belldandy. "It's only for Blue Lance's sake that I'm even here... So just spare me the trouble and swallow the egg. A demon like me has better things to do with his time than sit here and watch you fidget like that."

"Correction. You're not much of a demon anymore," said Excalibur, who had been quietly standing in the corned next to the TV. "You're officially classified as a reincarnated level four life form. Demon is a word reserved for those who possess the powers to fit that description."

"My my... For a robot your words are very sharp," sneered Welsper, his confidence boosted by the fact that the synthetic was ordered not to attack him anymore. Considering that he had been already the victim of practical joke today and now had to deal with the fact that, Keiichi's angel was going to be all over Holy Bell, the cursed feline felt that he needed to vent his frustrations somewhere. However, he soon regretted that decision, when he found himself staring down the long barrel of a particle cannon "M-Meow?!"

Holding the cat at gunpoint with his transformed arm, the sentient weapon raised an eyebrow in a rather rare display of any emotion. "For a cursed fur-ball, you sure have a lot of confidence. So... tell me... Do you feel lucky, punk?"

"No fighting!" The sudden thud of a battleaxe slamming down on the tatami floor, caused the quarreling duo to turn to the Valkyrie, who gave them a stern look. "This is not the time nor place for such a thing."

However, some of her fellow goddesses didn't seem to mind that interruption of this important event and instead of taking offense, they simply started laughing.

"Hey, good one!" Said Urd, trying hard to keep her composure. "Although... what's gotten into you?"

"I was reevaluating my social interactions and opted to recalibrate a lot of them, enriching my speech patterns with samples from various sources, including humans' popular culture and literature," explained the synthetic, tilting his head. "Isn't that appropriate?"

"Nah, I think it worked just fine," laughed the Norn of the past, as she turned to Keiichi and patted him on the head. "Are you paying attention? You need to keep up, before he sounds a lot cooler than you."

"What are you getting at, Urd?" Here he was all nervous about this big moment, and his sister-in-law was just fooling around. Not that it was something unheard of, and for her defense, both Skuld and Peorth were also laughing, which somehow seemed appropriate. As far as Keiichi was concerned, even the simplest of things could become really complicated in this house, not to mention matters that were serious enough to begin with. Letting a tired sigh, he turned his attention back to the angel egg, only to realize that it was nowhere to be seen. "Huh? Where did..."

Pointing carefully, Urd flicked her fingers sending the egg straight into his mouth in a very similar manner to her medicine, whenever she wanted to test something on him. "Gotcha!"

"Neesan! That wasn't nice!" objected Belldandy, watching her husband cough a bit, after he was pretty much forced to swallow the tiny projectile.

"Come on, Belldandy! At this rate, he was never going to do it on his own!" countered the half goddess. "After all, there's no gain by letting him worry too much about it."

"I know, but..." started the Norn of the present, before she felt a small but noticeable surge of magic. "Oh! It started!"

Keiichi also felt the funny sensation of the angel's awakening, but despite his previous nervousness, he suddenly felt completely calm and serene. It was almost as if his fears were dispelled by the new entity that manifested in his mind, as it curiously searched through his memories in an effort to get to know who his host was.

'Hello.' For a moment, the mortal almost tried to look around for the source of that voice, only to realize that it was actually coming from his own mind. Not sure how to act in a situation like this, he decided to approach it in the same manner as meeting a good friend.

'Nice to meet you,' thought Keiichi, stopping before he introduced himself, knowing that it would've been pointless. The angel probably had a very good idea about his identity and as such, he could skip most parts of a typical conversation between two individuals who tried to get to know each other. 'Um... Everyone's staring at me... I mean... us, so... Want to come out and greet them?'

'I'd love to.' With that, two tiny wings materialized on the mortal's back, as a miniature form began to slowly emerge.

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.

Hild's letter is the same one from chapter 4, although for the sake of not having to go back to find it, I've included it again in this chapter. I generally don't want to repeat the same content, but, I've felt that it was necessary for the readers' convenience to have it here, too.

The line "Do you feel lucky, punk?" is the incorrect form of the actual one from Dirty Harry (the actual one was "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"). However, considering that the first one is so popular (even though it's technically incorrect), I thought that it would've been interesting for Excalibur to use it, given that he doesn't have that much knowledge about movies in general.

I'm also sorry that I stopped the chapter at that point, but, I've felt that Keiichi's angel deserved some more attention and will be one of the big topics on the next chapter.

Finally, I'd like to mention that I've started another story called "Ah! The lost contract" which is a reboot of the AMG series, starting from the very beginning. However, it's not a retelling of the manga or anime, by instead, an alternative version which is mostly inspired by them. Despite that, it maintains the spirit of AMG and the characters while somewhat modified are still recognizable. The idea is to provide something fresh and new, without repeating most of the canon chapters/episodes of AMG.